



4 



HALF HOURS 
THE HOLY LAND 



THE HALF-HOUR LIBRARY. 

Splendidly Illustrated. 
Price 3s. 6d. each. 



NOW READY: 

Kalf-Hours in the Far North. 
Half-Hours in the Far East. 
Half-Hours in the Far South. 
Half-Hours in the Wide West. 
Half-Hours in Woods and Wilds. 
Half-Hours in the Deep. 
Half-Hours in the Tiny World. 
Half-Hours in Ah and Sky. 
Half-Hours in Many Lands. 
Half-Hours in the Holy Land. 
Half-Hours in Field and Forest 
Half-Hours Underground. 
Half-Hours at Sea. 
Half-Hours with a Naturalist. 



THE HALF HOUR LIBRARY 

OF TRAVEL, NATURE, AND SCIENCE 

FOR YOUNG READERS 



HALF HOURS 
IN THE HOLY LAND 



NORMAN MACLEOD 

AUTHOR OF "THE OLD LIEUTENANT AND HIS SON," "THE GOLD THREAD,' 
"THE EARNEST STUDENT," " WEE DAVIE," &C. 



LONDON 

CHARLES BURNET & CO., 
9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 
1887. 



Novello, Ewer & Co., 
Printers, 
5g & 70, Dean Street, Soho, 
London, W. 



6 

Copy 



This- booh, intended for youthful readers, is 
an abbreviated reprint of my father's volume 
"Eastward" which is the record of a journey in 
the Holy Land made by him in 1864. 



Axxie C. MACLEOD 




CONTENTS. 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE 

€HAP. PAGE 

I. FROM MARSEILLES ... o 

♦ . . o 

II. A MOONLIGHT TISIT TO MALTA .... 12 



III. ALEXANDRIA 



21 



IV. CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS ... 35 



FBOM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 

V. JAFFA . . 

VI. ACROSS THE PLAIN OF SHARON . . - . .76 

VII. ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL . . . .88 



THE HOLY CITY. 

VIII. PAST AND PRESENT H£ 

IX. THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE . . .129 

X. THE TEMPLE AREA . 1 QQ 



X 



CONTEXTS. 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITF. 

CHAP. PAGE 
XI. JERUSALEM "WITHOUT THE AYALLS . . „ .153 
XII. BETHANY AXD THE MOEXT OF OLITES . „ . 1G6 

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 

XILT. A day's JOTTRXEY TOWARDS jericho . . . . 1S5 
XIY. THE JORDAX AXD THE DEAD SEA . . . .198 

SOUTH FROM JERUSALEM. 

XY. THE HOME OP THE P ATRI AR CHS . . . .215 
XYI. BETHLEHEM . .226 

THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE, 

xyii. by Jacob's well ....... 239 

xvui. prom the to web, of jezbeel . 256 
xix. xalx axd xazabeth 26s 

NORTHERN PALESTINE. 

XX. THE LAKE OP TIBEBIAS 281 

XXI. SAPED 298 

XXII. PROM SAPED TO MAAS ...... 309 

OUT OE PALESTINE. 

XXIII. TO THE LEBAXOX 319 

XXIY. OUR LAST DAYS IX THE EAST 331 



FEOM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER I. 



FEOM MARSEILLES. 



LEXANDRIA is the starting-point to Palestine for 



all travellers approaching it from the west. For 
that port we left London on Wednesday morning, were 
all Thursday in Paris, left the same night, and reached 
Marseilles about one in the afternoon of Friday. 

We left Marseilles on the morning of the 20th of 
February, in the somewhat old — and not in all respects 
singularly comfortable — but yet sound ship Valetta, with 
as good a captain and officers as voyager could wish. 
It is a weakness of mine always to prefer a British ship 
to every other, especially when out of soundings. There 




4 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



is something in the " Ay, ay, sir ! " which inspires a con- 
fidence that nothing uttered by a foreigner can do. This 
is of course " provincial," but I don't profess to be any- 
thing else. 

The weather had nothing of the warm south in it ; the 
air was sharp and chill. We had showers of snow and 
sleet, the hills were white, the skies dull as lead, and one 
looked forward to Egypt and Syria as to a comfortable 
fire, whatever other attraction they might possess. 

Soon after leaving the splendid docks of Marseilles, we 
sat down to a sumptuous breakfast, and, as it happens in 
most sea voyages, the passengers met together for the 
first time — and in very many cases for the last. How 
important is the prospect of a voyage, even of a week, 
to those who have to " go down to the sea in ships; " 
but to none on board of this or any vessel afloat, was 
it more momentous than to a respected member of our 
party. 

Poor fellow ! He was a victim ; a clown-trodden, 
crushed, silent, and miserable slave to the demon of sea- 
sickness. That remorseless ocean-monster shook him, 
bound him, laid him prostrate, beat every bone in his 
body, knotted every muscle, tore every nerve, tortured 
him, turned him inside out, yet without a word of remon- 
strance from him, except a feeble groan, or look of agony 
from glazed eyes which had hardly an atom of expression 
to respond to the truly kind look of Morris the steward. 
But at this first breakfast-table my friend was all alive 
and energetic ; the power of the land was still upon him, 



ON BOARD THE " VALETTA." 



5 



and the ship was steady as a rock ; the beat of her 
powerful paddles was hardly echoed by the glasses upon 
the table. 

" How fortunate we are ! " " What a calm day ! " " I 
hope it will continue so," "No one could be sick with 
such weather," " We may have it so all the way to 
Alexandria " — these were the pleasing reflections from 
the different smiling, laughing, contented passengers, 
male and female, military and mercantile, Jew and Gen- 
tile, French, German, and English, who surrounded the 
table. 

Yet these pleasant hopes were most unexpectedly in- 
terrupted by an unaccountable lurch of the vessel, suc- 
ceeded by another, and accompanied by the sharp scream of 
the wind as it struck the rigging, its obedient harp-strings. 
I suggested to my friend the prudence of lying down 
while I went to ascertain the cause of this very strange 
commotion. He did so, promising to join me in a few 
minutes. Alas ! it was nearly a week ere he cared for 
anything upon earth, or rather upon sea, for all upon the 
quiet and solid earth seemed to him a paradise, which 
he would never revisit, unless for burial, if even for that. 

I shall never forget the scene which presented itself 

when I went on deck. We had been caught by a gale, 

which very rapidly increased to a hurricane. Now 

although, as the old song says, 

"I've cross'd the great Atlantic, 
And weathered many a breeze, 
Besides being up the Baltic 
And divers other seas," 



6 



FR03I ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



yet I never before encountered a hurricane ; and it is 
well worth seeing, for once at least. 

The waves, at first, seemed taken all aback, as if sud- 
denly roused from their beds, without having time to 
dress themselves and appear . with that solemn dignity 




THE GALE. 



before the world which becomes an ocean-sea. They 
rose with awful bulk of green water, and swelled up until, 
curling their monstrous heads, with a thundering and 
defiant roar they sank again, only to gather strength to 



ON BOAKD THE ct VALETTA." 



7 



come nearer and nearer, as if to send the vessel down 
with one thud to the lowest abyss. Again the wind 
seized them with a hissing yell, as if in a passion, and 
tore them to pieces when they presumed to rise, scatter- 
ing them into an atmosphere of the finest snowdrift, 
mingling air and water in one white seething plain, and 
seeming to unite sea and sky in a drizzle of flying mist. 

One of the most remarkable effects of the wind upon 
the sea was along an ugly range of precipices to leeward. 
The waves, according to the calculations of one of the 
officers, were driven up the precipice for about 120 feet, 
but, owing to the force of the wind, were unable to fall 
back with all their volume, so that the foam seemed to 
incrust the rock like ice, and to blow as smoke over the 
summit. 

The watch could not stand on the forecastle, which 
seemed buried in spray. The officers held on upon the 
gangway, their faces well " cured" with " the salt sea 
faeme." Our sturdy ship bored her way till the after- 
noon through all this turmoil with that calm and resolute 
bravery which our steam-engine personified, as it worked 
away steadily with its giant arms aided by regularly sup- 
plied drops of oil. 

The wind blew as if it would blow its last. " Is it 
possible," I asked our gallant little captain, "that it 
could blow stronger?" "I have never," he replied, 
' 6 seen it blow so hard except in the China seas." " What 
if the engine give way? " was the question suggested by 
me — who says I was uneasy ? — to the old and steady 



3 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



engineer. But he would not entertain the suggestion. 
" A better tool never was in a ship, and for seven years 
she has never made a miss," was his only reply. 

Notwithstanding the excitement of the hurricane and 
its intense interest, I was by no means disposed to com- 
plain wlien the Valetta ran for shelter — a most unusual 
occurrence. Fortunately Toulon happened to be the har- 
bour of refuge. It was worth our while encountering the 
gale, to enjoy the unexpected pleasure of seeing this 
famous place. 

The severe gale we had encountered told even upon 
this quiet nook. A brig which had broken from her 
moorings was being towed back to them by a tug; 
large ships of war, with their topmasts struck, were roll- 
ing so that we could see their decks. We were not 
permitted to land, and could therefore only estimate the 
strength of the place by what we saw from our deck; but 
judging from the batteries, which extend from the water's 
edge to the mountain sides, Toulon is impregnable. It 
must be a beautiful place in summer, and highly pictu- 
resque, but on this day it looked cold and miserable in 
the extreme. 

The rest of our voyage to Malta was rather rough, but 
no special event disturbed it. My older readers will not 
care to hear of the following incident, but doubtless the 
children will. It is one very common in all voyages 
during stormy weather and when far from the coast. 
Several small birds were blown out of sight of land 
during the gale. They were so wearied as to be easily 



ON BOARD THE " VALETTA." 



11 



caught. One little lark was so pleased with the warmth 
of my hand that he sat down on it, burying his little 
cold feet in his feathers, and looking about with his 
bright eye, not in the least afraid, and as if feeling* 
assured that he had been cast amongst kind people. 
These birds are always very thirsty, and drink with 
delight. In summer they sometimes remain on board 
for days, feeding upon flies, and in some cases they have 
been known to clear a cabin of cockroaches, a sort of 
ugly blackbeetle, and to get quite fat upon them. 

One beautiful lark which we caught remained until we 
were passing close to the shore in the Straits of 
Bonifacio. We there let him off, and he flew away to 
sing again in his own green fields ; but another died, and 
was found in the morning in his cotton bed lying on his 
back, his little claws curled up to the sky. 

We reached Malta late on the night of the 23rd, and 
finding that the steamer was not to leave till three in the 
morning we resolved to go on shore. 



PEO^I ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER II. 

A MO0NUGHT VISIT TO MALTA. 

A LL the world knows Malta: yet I would not exchange 
m 7 impressions of it, received during the strange 
hours of midnight, for the most accurate knowledge which 
could be obtained by daylight. Every one, the governor 
included, was in bed, except the sentries and a few police- 
men and houseless ragamuffins. The moon was shining 
"with the heavens all bare;" every house revealed 
itself, not in the clearness of noonday, which would 
have been a fault— few towns, and fewer men, beino- 
able to stand that sort of revelation— but in the soft and 
subdued silver light of the full moon, which blended 
wonderfully with the limestone of which the island is 
composed. We walked up streets which were long flights 



A MOONLIGHT VISIT TO MALTA. 1& 

of stairs, admired the balconies, and the innumerable bits 
of picturesque architecture and varied outline that every- 
where met the eye, and seemed so tasteful when compared 
with the pasteboard rows of our prosaic streets, which are 
built by contract and squeezed into stupid shape by our 
city authorities, who seem to think that the " orders " of 
architecture mean all houses being alike, as policemen are. 

We soon reached the side of the town which overlooks 
the great harbour ; and though I have lost all memory 
of the names, if I ever heard them (which I no doubt 
had), of forts, streets, palaces, batteries, yet I never can 
forget the impression made by what Joseph Hume used 
to call " the tottle of the whole." We wandered along 
battery upon battery, passed innumerable rows of big 
guns, which had pyramids of shot beside them, and which 
looked down white precipices, as if watching the deep 
harbour which washed their base, and sorrowing that 
they had nothing to do. We saw forts — forts every- 
where, forts on this side, forts on the other side, forts 
above us, and forts below us. 

We saw, beneath us, dark forms of line-of-battle ships,, 
like giants asleep, but ready in a moment to wake up 
with their thunder. Yet we saw no signs of life in the 
silence of midnight except a few lights skimming across 
the deep black water below; nor did we hear a sound 
except the song of the Maltese boatman who steered his 
gondola with its firefly lamp, and the tread of the sentinel as 
his bayonet gleamed in the moonlight, and the sudden ques- 
tion issued from his English voice, " Who goes there ? " 



14 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



We stood beside noble palaces, formerly inhabited by 
the famous knights, every ornament, every coat of arms, 

distinct and clear as by day ; and vre thought -well, 

never mind our sentimentalism. TVe stood beside 

the statue of the 
great and good Lord 
Hastings, and traced 
his silent features be- 
tween us and the sky, 
which revived many 
thoughts in me of my 
earliest and best 
friends. 

And thus we wan- 
dered until nearly three 
in the morning, in a 
sort of strange and 
mysterious dreamland ; 
and for aught that ap- 
peared, the Grand - 
Master and all his 
knights still possessed 
the island, and might 
be seen on the morrow's morn — if we were disposed 
to wait for them — watching a fleet of infidel Moslem iu 
the distance, come to disturb their peace and the peace 
of Europe, if not to destroy Christianity itself. And 

we thought no matter what we thought of these fine 

fellows ! 




STREET IX MALTA 



A MOONLIGHT VISIT TO MALTA. 



15 



How thankful we were that all the shops were closed, 
where we might have been cheated by daylight ; that 
priests, and friars, and nuns, and sea captains, and 
admirals, and all the puff and parade, were snoring in 
their nightcaps. They would have, beyond doubt, de- 
stroyed the pleasing illusion. 

After buying some delicious oranges from ever- wakeful 
boys, and bidding grateful farewell to our obliging guide, 
we returned to the Valetta full of thankfulness for our 
midnight visit to Malta. We never wish to see it again. 
We fear the daylight. 

After leaving Malta we seemed to have entered another 
world. The sky was without a cloud ; the sea was un- 
ruffled by the slightest breeze, and began to be coloured 
by that exquisite deep, Icqris-lazidi-like blue which may 
be approached sometimes in our northern skies, but 
never in our northern seas. Nothing could be more 
beautiful than the play of the white foam as it flew from 
the ship's bow, or from her paddles, and fell like white 
pearls upon the glassy surface. 

I was reminded of a similar effect at the Falls of 
Niagara, produced by the sparkling foam as it ran up the 
smooth surface of the deep water, which, like a huge 
green wheel of ocean, rolled over the Table Eock. In 
both cases, the contrast was beautiful in the extreme — 
between the pure white and indigo blue in the one 
instance, and the emerald sea-green in the other. 

During our short voyage to Alexandria shoals of 
dolphins rose alongside of us, while once or twice flying- 



IQ FE03I ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 

fish -were seen skimming the surface with silvery wings 
—both features significant of a change in our latitude. 
Strange to say, our engine, which had stood so well 
throughout the hurricane, broke clown in the calm on 
two occasions. The " good tool" had no doubt been 
wounded in the battle with the storm. 

One other little fact I must not omit to mention, as 



THE DOLPHIX. 

evidencing the distance to which fine substances can be 
wafted by the ahv For two days, and when out of sight 
of land, our course running nearly parallel to Africa, the 
weather rigging of the ship was all brown with fine sand, 
which adhered to the tar. And this was visible only on 
that side of the ropes next the desert. 



A MOONLIGHT VISIT TO MALTA. 



17 



And now for a few days we felt the perfect repose and 
benefit of a voyage. To one who, like myself, never 
suffers from nausea even, it is the most perfect rest. The 
busy world, we know, is getting on very well without us, 
and so we determine to get on without it. The post- 
man's knock belongs to another sphere of existence, and 
we hear it no more, except as in a feverish dream. 




FLYING FISH. 



A mighty gulf of deep water separates us from the 
world of letters, business, calls, meetings, appointments, 
committees, visits, and all like disturbers of selfish ease. 

We assume, being ourselves in robust health, that all 
our friends are in a like condition, and are pleased to 
think that they lament our absence, hope to hear from us 

c 



18 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE 



by the next mail, and will be glad to have us home again; 
while sometimes we cannot but regret, with a feeling 
which alarms our conscience, that we do not sufficiently 
respond to their anxieties. 

On ship-board, pleasure and necessity are one. We 
cannot help being idle. We may possibly exert ourselves 
to play draughts or backgammon, but not chess — that 
requires thought. To read anything is an act of conde- 
scension, and no one thinks that his duty. In fact, the 
word " duty " seems confined to the officers and crew, 
including the steward. Those portions, too, of our life 
which on land are made subordinate to more important 
things, such as our meals and sleep, at sea are made the 
leading events of the day. We retire at any hour to our 
cabin, sleep, read, meditate, as we please, and as long as 
we please. The brain and memory empty themselves so 
completely of all that has troubled or occupied them during 
previous periods of existence, that we seem to begin life 
again as children, and to be amused with the most pass- 
ing trifles. 

Sensible men who, a few weeks or even clays before, 
were occupied with National affairs, become interested 
in the cow on board, feel her horns, scratch the back of 
her ears ; and beg for some crumbs of bread to feed the 
chickens. A dog on board becomes an institution. A 
sea-bird attracts every eye ; while a ship looming on 
the horizon makes all, who can stand, come on deck and 
watch the approaching wonder, as the Ancient Mariner 
watched the mysterious sail. 



A MOONLIGHT VISIT TO MALTA. 



19 



"Who, on shore, ever thinks of the longitude or latitude 
of his house ? Not one in fifty believes that it has either 
one or other : but at sea our position is known every day 
at twelve o'clock ; and the spot upon the globe's surface 
which we at that moment occupy becomes a matter of 
serious speculation until dinner time. 

We beseech wearied men never to visit Paris, to be 
baked on the Boulevards, sick of the Kue Eivoli, have 
their digestion destroyed by mushrooms and cockscombs 
at the Trois Freres ; nor to be pestered by guides, ropes, 
ladders, mules, or alpenstocks, in walking across slippery 
glaciers, or down savage ravines in Switzerland ; nor to 
be distracted by " Murray" in wandering from gallery to 
gallery, or from church to church in Italy ; — but to 
launch upon the deep, get out of sight of land, and have 
their brains thoroughly invigorated by fresh air and salt 
water. On the forenoon of Saturday, the 27th, the 
seventh day from Marseilles, we sighted Alexandria. 

At this time, by the kind and cordial permission of the 
captain, I had a religious service with the men in the 
forecastle, as my custom has ever been on a voyage. It 
had little formality in it ; some were in their hammocks, 
most were seated around on the " bunkers," and were 
dimly visible under the low deck with the feeble lights. 
Few audiences are more attentive, more willing to learn, 
or more grateful for so small a kindness. We are apt to 
forget what these men endure for our sakes, what sacri- 
fices are required by the necessities of their occupation, 
what their sore temptations and few advantages. The 



20 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



least we can do when an opportunity offers itself is to 
speak to them of the love of a common Father and 
Saviour, and we know not when the seed thus cast upon 
the waters may spring up. It may be in the hospital 
among strangers, or when pacing the deck at midnight, 
or when clinging to a plank for life, or even when going 
down " with all hands." 



EEOM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



CHAPTEB IH. 

ALEXANDRIA . 

THE first sign of nearing a new country from the sea 
is generally the pilot-boat and its crew. With what 
interest do we look over the side of the ship, and watch 
the dresses and countenances of the first specimens of 
the tribe among whom we are to pitch our tents for a 
time ! 

The boat, with a flag in its bow, which pulled out to 
meet us from Alexandria, had a crew which were a fit 
introduction to the East, with their rough comfortable 
brown boatcoats and hood, their petticoat-trousers, 
swarthy faces, and shining teeth. And as for "Master 
George " himself, the Egyptian pilot, as he stepped up 
the gangway to shake hands with his old friends, and 



22 



EROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



take charge of the ship, he was, from toe to turban, 
a perfect study for an artist. 

There is nothing at all remarkable in the view of 
Alexandria from the sea. Notwithstanding the white 
palace, the old summerhouse of the Pasha, and other dis- 
tinguished buildings, which are sure to be pointed out, 
the town looks like a long horizontal streak of whitewash, 
mingled with brown, and crossed perpendicularly with 
the sharp lines of ships' masts. 

But a scene well worth noticing was the crowd of 
boats that pressed around the ship to convey passengers 
to the shore. Imagine thirty or forty such, with their 
nondescript crews, crowding to the ship's side, every 
man on board of them appearing in a towering passion, 
and yelling as if in the agony of despair, and, with out- 
stretched hands and flashing eyes, pouring forth a stream 
of guttural Arabic, that seemed to the ear to be a whole 
dictionary of imprecations without a pause, and as far as 
one could judge, without a motive, unless it were that 
they took us for lost spirits claimable by the greatest 
demon. 

The noise is great when landing from a Highland 
steamer, and when Highland boatmen, the scum of the 
port, are contending for passengers or luggage. But 
without defending the Gaelic as mellifluous, or the High- 
landers as types of meekness on such an occasion, yet in 
vehemence of gesticulation, in genuine power of lip and 
lung to fill the air with a roar of incomprehensible ex- 
clamations, nothing on earth, so long as the human 



ALEXANDRIA. 



25 



body retains its present arrangement of muscles and 
nervous vitality, can surpass the Egyptians and their 
language. ' 

If the Pyramids were built, as some allege they were, 
to preserve the inch as a measure of length for the world, 
why should not the Sphinx have been raised, with her 
calm eye, dignified face, and sweet smile, even now 
breaking through her ruins like sunlight through the 
clouds, to be an everlasting rebuke to Eastern rage, and 
a lesson in stone exhorting to silence ? 

My first day in the East stands alone in my memory, 
unapproached by all I have ever seen. It excited feel- 
ings of novelty and wonder which I fear can never be 
reproduced. I had expected very little from Alexandria, 
and thought of it only as a place of merchandise, noto- 
rious for donkeys, donkey-boys, and Pompey's Pillar. 
But as soon as I landed, I realised at once the presence 
of a totally different world of human beings from any I 
had seen before. The charm and fascination consisted 
in the total difference in every respect between East and 
West. 

Passing through the utter chaos, dilapidation, and con- 
fusion of the custom-house, and clambering over, as we 
best could, the innumerable bale's of cotton, under the 
protection of the blue cloudless heavens — winding our 
way among goods of every description, and between 
barrels and hampers, amid the cries and noise of the 
mixed multitude who crowded the wharves, filled the 
boats, and offered themselves as porters, guides, and 



26 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



whatever else could command a backsheesJi, we reached 
the outskirts of the custom-house, passed the officers, 
entered the bazaar, and had time to look around. 

The first impression made upon a European, is, as I 
have said, that he has never seen anything at all like it. 
The shops, with various kinds of goods displayed behind 
a man who is seated cross-legged, willing to sell them 
apparently as a favour, hardly attract the eye any more 
than open cupboards would do. But the persons who 
crowd along the narrow lane ! Only look at them ! They 
are manifestly from all parts of the earth — Greeks, Turks, 
Jews, Armenians, Hindoos, Copts, Arabs, Nubians, Alba- 
nians, drunken Jack Tars, English officers on the way to 
or from India, &c. With the exception of the Euro- 
peans, each man appears in his own distinct individuality 
of face and raiment. 

In America there is a Yankee type everywhere visible, 
with lips, nose, cheeks, and hair by no means romantic, 
though business-like ; in Eussia there is a Muscovite type, 
which admits of little variety ; and everywhere, from the 
Mississippi to the Volga, there is a certain uniformity of 
face, or at all events of dress ; coats and trousers with 
buttons, long tails or short tails, hats or caps — a sort of 
Caucasian respectability. 

But here, each face seems to stand alone. There are 
eyes and foreheads, noses and beards, colours of skin, 
peculiarities of expression — the sly, the dignified, the 
rascally, the ignorant, the savage, the refined, the con- 
tented, the miserable — giving each face its own distinct 



ALEXANDRIA. 27 

place in the globe. And there is, if possible, a greater 
variety in costume. 

Every man seems to have studied his own taste, or his 




ARABS FROM THE DESERT. 



own whim, or, possibly, his own religion, in the shape, 
colour, and number of his garments. The jackets, the 
pelisses or dressing-gowns, the waistcoats, the petticoats, 



23 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



the inexpressibles, the sashes, the turbans, the headgear, 
each and all are different in colour and in details of 
arrangement. 

The arms, whether dirk or dagger, single pistols, or 
half a dozen, modern, or as old as the invention of gun- 
powder, sword, gun, or spear — each has its own peculiar 
form and arrangement, so that every Eastern has to a 
Western a novelty and picturesqueness which are inde- 
scribable. 

And the motley crowd presses along : fat, contented, 
oily Greek merchants, or majestic Turks, on fine horses 
splendidly caparisoned, or on aristocratic donkeys, that 
would despise to acknowledge as of the same race the 
miserable creatures which bray in our coal- carts ; bare- 
legged donkey-boys, driving their more plebeian animals 
before them ; Arabs from the desert, with long guns and 
gipsy-like coverings, stalking on in silence ; beggars, such 
as one sees in the pictures of the old masters — verily 
"poor and needy, blind and naked;" insane persons, 
with idiotic look, and a few rags covering their bronzed 
bodies, seeking alms ; Greek priests, Coptic priests, and 
Latin priests ; doctors of divinity and dervishes ; little 
clumpy women with their peculiar waddling gait, wrapt in 
white muslin sheets, their eyes only visible ; and towering 
over all this strange throng are strings of camels, lank 
and lean, so patient-looking and submissive, pacing on 
under their loads of cotton, with bent heads and sleepy 
eyes, their odd-looking drivers mounted high above, rock- 
ing with that peculiar motion which the camel's pace 



ALEXANDRIA. 



29 



produces — all this, and infinitely more, formed a scene 
that looked like a fancy fair got up for the amusement of 
strangers. 

Before leaving the bazaar, let us look into this coffee- 
shop open from the street. There is no ornament of 




WOMEN — RIDING AND WALKING. 



any kind in it, nor does it aim at the magnificence and 
glitter seen in our whisky and gin shops at home — such 
palaces being unknown in the East. It is of the humblest 
description, having no ornament of any kind but a few 
mats on its floor and upon its raised dais. Capital is not 



30 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



required — a little charcoal, a coffee-pot, and some coffee 
forming the whole stock in trade. 

Odd-looking, turbaned men, smoking their nargiles, are 
each a picture of quiet contentment. But the chief attrac- 
tion to me was a blind man, who sat cross-legged on the 
dais, with a rude sort of fiddle, on which, resting it per- 
pendicularly on his knee, he played a monotonous accom- 
paniment to his chant. He was apparently an improvisatore, 
who had to think for a little time before composing his 
verse, or more probably he was only a reciter of old Arab 
poems. While chanting and scraping on the fiddle, there 
was a smile of good-humour on his face. Xo sooner were 
two or three lines repeated, than his audience exhibited 
the greatest satisfaction, and turned their eyes to a young 
man who sat on the opposite dais, quietly smoking — a 
competitor, apparently, with the blind musician and 
ballad-singer. He seemed sometimes puzzled for a 
moment, as he blew a few rapid whiffs from his pipe, 
while the blind man listened with the greatest attention. 
But no sooner was his response given than a general 
movement was visible among the auditors, who turned to 
the blind minstrel as if saying, " Match that, old fellow, 
if you can ! " 

Along the whole bazaar there were little episodes of 
this sort, presenting features of social life totally different 
from our own. My excellent friend laughed heartily at 
my enthusiasm, assuring me that I would think nothing 
of all this by the time I reached Damascus, and begged I 
would come away, as we must have a drive and see a 



ALEXANDRIA. 



31 



few sights before dinner ; although, to tell the truth, I 
was much more pleased with the sort of sights around 
me than with the prospect of beholding even Pompey's- 
Pillar. 

Obeying orders, we were soon in the square, or long 
parallelogram which forms the respectable part of the 
town and where the chief hotels are situated ; but it had 
no more interest for me than Euston Square. Not so the 
drive. 

Soon after leaving the hotel we were again in the East, 
with its dust, poverty, picturesqueness, and confusion. 
We visited an old Greek church, which had been excavated 
out of a mass of debris. We gazed with interest upon its 
walls dimly frescoed with Christian subjects, and looked 
into its dark burial vaults, and thought of " the Alexandrian 
school," and of those who had worshipped, probably 
more than a thousand years ago, in this old edifice. We 
passed lines of camel-hair tents perched upon a rising 
ground and occupied by the Bedouin, who had come 
from the desert, perhaps to buy or to sell ; we passed the 
brown clay huts of the Fellaheen, with their yelling dogs 
and naked children ; we passed crowds of donkeys bearing 
water-skins, resembling black pigs that had been drowned 
and were oozing with water ; we saw with delight that 
feature of the East — groves of palms (needing no glass to 
cover them) drooping their feathered heads in the sunny 
sky; we stood, where many generations had stood before 
beneath what is called Pompey's Pillar, and repeated the 
speculations of past ages as to how it could have been 



or* 
0Z 



FB03I ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 






erected there, what a glori- 
ous portico that must have 
been of which it had form- 
ed a unit, and what a 
magnificent temple it must 
have adorned. We then 
returned to the square 
from which we had started, 
feeling more and more 
that we were in a new 
world. 

One or two other sights added to 
our enjoyment of this first day in the 
East. One was a bare-legged syce 
with silver-headed cane, who flew 
along, like an ostrich, to clear the 
way for the carriage of his noble 
Jewish master and mistress, and to 
announce their august presence, while 
they reclined in them handsome chariot, 
driven by a Nubian charioteer, with 
comfortable satisfaction in their look, 
such as their ancestors manifested 
when, in the same country long ago, 
they enjoyed leeks and garlic, wishing 
for little better. 

Another sight was a funeral, in 
which the body was carried on a bier, 
preceded, as the custom is, by blind 



ALEXANDRIA. 



33 



men, and followed by relatives, and women as hired 
mourners who did their duty well, giving loud lamenta- 
tions for their money. And another was a marriage pro- 




"WATER BOTTLE. 



cession, in which the bridegroom was going for his bride 
with lanterns and wild Turkish screaming instruments 
intended to represent music. And having seen all this 

D 



34 



FKOM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



we joined European society at the table cVliote at a late hour, 
and fell again into the old grooves of modern civilisation. 

After taking a short stroll to look at the stars, and ob- 
serving that there was as yet no gas in Alexandria with 
all its progress and wealth, but that every one was obliged 
by law to carry a lantern, we retired to bed. 

We met there with some friends, whose acquaintance 
we had made in other portions of the civilised world ; but, 
fortunately, owing to the cool state of the weather, they 
did not press their company upon us so as to be numbered 
amongst the plagues of Egypt. It was many years since 
we had met the genuine mosquito ; but who that has once 
experienced it, can forget the nervous shock which runs 
through the body when his sharp "ping" is heard close 
to the ear as he blows his trumpet for battle ! To open 
the net curtains in order to drive a single enemy out, is 
probably to let a dozen in ; and once they are in, how 
difficult to discover the aerial imps ! and, when discovered, 
how difficult to get at them ! and when all this labour has 
been gone through, and the curtains are again tucked in, 
and every crevice closed, and the fortress made secure, and 
the hope indulged that the enemy has fled, and the sweet 
feeling of unctuous repose again mesmerises soul and body 
— oh, horror, to hear again at both ears " ping, ping-ing! " 

On this first night we did battle with intense energy 
and bravery against one intruder, and having slain him 
we were at peace ; but then came the barking of the dogs 
— those ceaseless serenaders of Eastern cities, of which 
more anon — and then sleep. 




TKOM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CAIEO AND THE PYEAMIDS. 

ALTHOUGH Alexandria is the starting point for Pales- 
tine (our ultimate destination) yet who could be in 
it without seeing Cairo, and who could be in Cairo with- 
out seeing the Pyramids, and going the usual round of 
travellers since the deluge or thereabouts ? So we found 
ourselves at the railway station en route to Cairo and the 
Pyramids. 

The delta, as a shoreless ocean of flat, rich land, pre- 
sented no feature to us of greater interest than a similar 
expanse of cultivated loam in England, Belgium, or any- 
where else. But there ever and anon appeared those 
unmistakable signs of the old East which linked us to 
the past and belong not to modern Europe, on which we 



36 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



had now turned our backs. There were, of course, the 
graceful palms and other trees of eastern foliage fringing 
the horizon and reposing in the calm delicious air. There 
were camels ploughing — a combination, by the way, 
which seemed to me as unnatural as a pig in harness, for 
though the creature submitted with patient drudgery, it 
had nevertheless the look of an upper servant out of 
place — an old huntsman or whipper-in of a gallant pack 
driving a coal cart. 

As we passed along at a slow rate, we saw other 
symptoms of a very different life from what we had been 
accustomed to, such as brown, dusty, crumbling, poverty- 
stricken, mud villages, built upon mounds of rubbish to 
keep them out of the inundation, with their squalid hovels, 
whitewashed mosques, and odd-looking inhabitants, male 
and female, and the pigeon villages, where those birds are 
reared in flocks for the market, their nests being clay pots 
built into a peculiarly-shaped second story with square 
walls inclining inwards, like the old Egyptian buildings. 
TVe also passed half-naked men swinging between them, 
with regular motion, a sort of basket by which they 
raised water from a ditch on a lower level to one on a 
higher, which distributed it over the whole field. We 
also passed water mills for the same purpose turned by 
oxen, camels, or horses ; and frequently we passed Mus- 
sulmans at their devotions. 

Arrived at Cairo, we went of course to Shepherd's 
Hotel. To get clear of the railway terminus, however, 
was by no means easy. The crush of donkey boys, omni- 



CAIKO AND THE PYEAMIDS. 37 

buses, carriages, and camels, with the crowd of non- 




ATTITUDES OF THE MAHOMETAN DURING HIS DEVOTIONS. 

descript characters, raised such a storm of sound and 



38 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



such clouds of dust and of doubt, as made the "situation" 
for a moment bewildering. But once in the hotel we are 
again in Europe. 

The verandah at Shepherd's had its own story to tell, 
and any man could read it. It is the Isthmus of Suez on 
a small scale — a traveller's link between India and Europe, 
with the addition of a few square yards which serve as a 
platform to connect the invalid houses of the cold north 
with the heating breath of the genial south. Here one 
meets young lads who have passed their examinations at 
Addiscombe dressed up a la mode, from canvas shoes to 
cambric-covered hats. They are, upon the whole, nice, 
clean-looking fellows, with a gentlemanly bearing about 
them, and an inocent puppyism, pipe included, which 
ceases in the eye of charity to be offensive on the verge 
of the real difficulties in life, which one knows they are 
about to encounter. 

Who would refuse a pipe or a snuff to a man before his 
going into battle ? But what care these boys for leaving 
home ? " Ain't it jolly ?" Xo, my boys, I know better ; 
it ain't jolly, but, as you would say, " seedy." In spite 
of all your pluck, I know you have just written to your 
fathers or mothers with a tear which you would be 
ashamed to confess, hating to be thought " muffs." You 
have forced yourselves to declare for their sakes, " how 
happy you are ; " yet you would give worlds to be back 
again for an hour even at home, and would hug the old 
dog and almost kiss the old butler. I'll wager that that 
merry lad, with blue eyes and fair hair, has written to his 



CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS, 



41 



sister Charlotte, who is watching for the mail, telling her 
to keep up her heart for he will be able very soon to 
return on leave. And he has sent a single line to Jack, 
telling him that he may have the use of all his bats and 
guns and fishing-rods, and whatever he has left behind 
him, for though he had his little tiffs with Jack at home, 
Jack, in spite of his this or that, seems now perfection in 
his brothers memory. And the lad begs also to be remem- 
bered, in a quiet, confidential way, to a certain young 
lady whom he is ashamed to name, but whom he verily 
believes will never marry another, but wait his return 
from India. God bless the boys, and bring them 
out of fever and gunshot wounds to the old folks at 
home. 

Meeting these fresh boys from the west are worn-out, 
sallow-complexioned veterans returning from the East. 
Among them are men whose fame is associated only with 
the dangers of sport with tigers and wild boars, or with 
the gaieties of the station. But just as likely among 
those quiet looking gentlemen may be more than one who 
has governed a province as large as England, and been a 
king in the East, and been almost worshipped by wild 
tribes whom he has judged in righteousness and ruled 
with clemency. And they are returning to a country 
where old friends, who parted from them full of life and 
hope, are long ago buried, and they will visit " the old 
home " no more, for it is in the hands of strangers, while 
such of them as are bachelors will henceforth be fre- 
quenters of oriental clubs, and be known as " old 



42 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



Indians," who are supposed to be peculiar and crotchety. 
There are few nobler gentlemen on earth, after all, than 
these same " old Indians." Look at those two fine 
specimens with pith hats, brown faces, and long grey 
moustaches. They are very silent, and look sometimes 
as if they were sulky, but their hearts are sound, though 
then' livers are the reverse, and I respect even their 
growls, that seem to me like harmless thunder, without 
lightning, after a long sultry day. 

And now, leaving Cairo and mounted on very good 
donkeys, selected by a nice lad named Hassan, a well- 
known hanger-on at the hotel, and one of John Bull's 
<; rascals, sir ! " we set off for the Pyramids. 

The first view of the Nile here was to me singularly 
•enjoyable. Indeed, the first view of a great historical 
river is always most interesting. It is one of those 
features of a country which is as unchangeable as the 
mountains, and is always associated with its history as 
ike permanent highway of all generations, requiring no 
repair and incapable of decay. And here was the Nile ! 
It is one of the locks of snowy hair on the old head of 
the world. Reminiscences began to crowd upon the 
mind, from Moses to Captain Speke, and one ever and 
anon wished to convince himself of the fact that this was 
.really the ancient river of history. Yet all the objects 
which met the eye and filled in the view were appropriate. 
There were picturesque boats and palm-trees on the 
further shore, and over them were the grey Pyramids 
.rearing their heads a few miles off. What more could we 



CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS. 



43 



ask to make tip a real Egyptian landscape in harmony 
with one's ideal ? 

After crossing the ferry and traversing a flat plain on 
the western shore with villages and groves of palm-trees, 
we reached at last an open space with nothing between 
us and the Pyramids. The first thing that strikes one is, 
not their size, for that cannot be measured by the eye, 
but the high platform on which they stand. It is about 
one hundred and thirty feet above the level of the green 
flat of the delta, and in the midst of a pure sandy desert. 
" I never thought they were among the sand or so high 
up ; did you? " " I thought they would have looked far 
larger, did not you ? " " Where in the world is the 
sphinx ? " " There she is." 66 What ! that little round 
ball rising above the sand ? " These are the sort of 
questions or replies which one hears, if anything be 
spoken at all, as he moves towards those venerable 
mounds. 

We found the strip of land which separates the Pyra- 
mids from the green valley to be much broader than it at 
first seemed. It was thus well on in the day when we 
reached our destination, and the heat was consequently 
greater than we had made up our minds for. We made 
for the sphinx first, and went round and round her. She 
appeared like a huge boulder rising out of the sand. 1 
did all in my power to realize the calm majesty, the 
dignity, serenity, etc., of that strange creature's expres- 
sion, but I gave it up in despair. She seemed to me to 
be an Egyptian Mrs. Conrady, whom no power could 



44 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



invest with beauty. I envy those who can enjoy her 
smiles. She may have been a theological Venus in the 
days of the patriarchs, but a most gigantic small-pox from 
the battering-rams of Cambyses, or the fierce anger of 
some invader, has destroyed the smoothness of her skin. 
I regret my insensibility to her charms, but I can't help 
it. She is still a riddle to me. 

The nearer we approached the Great Pyramid, the 
more it rose upon us as a revelation of majesty and 
power. When it was proposed to me to ascend it I 
agreed as a matter of course, and when one of our party 
kindly hinted at the difficulty, I looked up to the artificial 
mole-hill, and swaggering about my exploits on Highland 
and Swiss mountains, I expanded my chest, drew myself 
upright, and pitied the scepticism of my fellow-traveller. 
The offer of the Arabs to help me up I rejected with a 
smile of quiet assurance and contempt. Walking along 
the base of the structure, which seemed interminable, we 
got upon the first ledge, and began the ascent. 

Half-a-dozen bare-armed, lightly-clad, dark complex- 
ioned, white-teethed, children of the desert surrounded me 
— measuring me with their eyes, and jabbering irreverently 
in Arabic about my size, I believe, but they ended by 
volunteering their assistance. Their speech was interlarded 
with the one word which constantly occurs and forms an 
important portion of the language of modern Egypt and 
Canaan — backsheesh. I begged them courteously to leave 
me, and with an elasticity remarkable to no one but myself, 
I mounted the first step. Having done so, I felt entitled to 



•CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS. 47 

pause and breathe, for this first step seemed to be a five 
feet wall of limestone. To my amazement I found another 
before me, and another and another, each of which I 
climbed, with the assistance, I confess, of the Arabs — two- 
before and three behind — but with a constantly diminish- 
ing sense of strength and an increasing anxiety to know 
when I should reach those short, easy steps which I had 
been gazing at from below. I was told that the steps to 
the summit were all like those I had passed, but I was 
also told not to be discouraged thereby, as by hard work, 
I should be a good way up in half an hour, and once up I 
could rest so as to be fit for the descent, which after all 
was the real difficulty. I gazed up to a series of about 
two hundred stone walls which, after reaching to an eleva- 
tion of 120 feet higher than the ball of St. Paul's, were 
lost at last in the blue sky, and I looked down half dizzy 
to the base beneath me. 

The next wall above me was somewhere about my 
chest or chin. So meditating upon the vanity of human 
wishes, upon the loss to my parish (so argued the 
flesh) by a vacancy, upon the inherent excellence of 
humility, the folly of pride and simple ambition, I then 
in a subdued but firm tone declared that no arguments 
with which I was then acquainted would induce me 
to go a yard higher. I pleaded principle, but strength- 
ened my convictions by pointing to the burning sun 
and the absence of a ladder. Bidding therefore farewell 
to my companions, who went up those giant stairs, 
I begged my clamorous guides, who clung around, to 
leave me until they returned. The obvious terror of the 



48 FKOM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 

Arabs was that they would lose their pay, but I mustered 
breath enough to say in the blandest manner, " Beloved 
friends and fellow labourers! sons of the desert, followers 
of the false prophet, leave me, go round the corner. I 
wish to meditate upon the past ; depart." And then I 
emphatically added, " Backsheesh, backsheesh, backsheesh I 
Yes." They seemed to understand the latter part of my 
address, held up their fingers and responded, "Backsheesh? 
yes ! " I bowed. " Good," they replied, " we are satis- 
fied," and vanished. 

And so they left me some twenty steps up the Pyramid 
and looking towards Ethiopia and the sources of the Nile. 
I was thankful for the repose. One had time to take in 
the scene in quiet, and to get a whiff from the inex- 
haustible past in that wondrous spot. The Arabs away, 
everything was calm as the grave, except for the howls of 
a wandering jackal that, like a speck, was trotting away 
over the tawny sand beneath me. 

As to what one's thoughts are in such a place, I believe 
they are very different from those one would anticipate, 
or which are suggested by memory in seclusion after- 
wards. Instead of receiving present impressions, we 
possibly try to pump up emotions deemed suitable to the 
occasion. We gaze upon the mountain of stone around 
us, on the Sphinx at our feet, and on the green valley of 
the Nile ; we recall early readings about the wonders of 
the world, of travels in Egypt, and stories of the big 
Pyramid, and we ask, 1 'Are we really here? Are these 
the things which stirred our hearts long ago ? " and then 



CAIEO AND THE PYRAMIDS. 



49 



trying possibly to gauge the depths of time since these 
pyramids were erected, we place historical milestones a 
few centuries apart, putting the first down at the period 
of the Eeformation, then jogging up to the Crusades, the 
decline and fall of the Eoman Empire, the Old Testament 
times, those of Joseph and his brethren, until we reach 
Abraham. "We then look at the big stones about us and 
say, " these were placed here long before Abraham.' ' 
Then we begin to ask, " Who built them ? What were 
they built for ? and who on earth was Cheops ? " And 
then possibly some shells in the limestone attract the eye, 
and we ask, " When were the occupants of these alive ?" 
and we thus get past Adam and Eve into the infinite 
cycles of geologists, until at last the chances are that one 
gets bewildered and dreamy, and mutters with Byron : — 

" Let not a monument give you or me hopes, 
Since not a pinch of dust remains of Cheops." 

Yet confessedly, few can escape in such circumstances 
an awed feeling of vast and unknown antiquity, or fail to 
hear faint echoes from the tide of human life that chafed 
against these immortal walls before history began. I 
doubt not a great part of the charm which fascinates us 
in such scenes arises from the consciousness of human 
brotherhood which all historical countries suggest, of the 
existence long since of beings like ourselves, men who 
planned and laboured, lived and died thousands of years 
ago, but are yet alive somewhere, and with whom, could 
they only start into life now, we would be able to sympa- 

E 



50 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



thise. After all, ijersons are the life of this world, and a 
personal God the life of the universe. 

"While leaving the Pyramid, the famous passage from 
dear old Sir Thomas Browne's " Chapter on Mummies" 
came to my memory : — " Time sadly overcometh all things, 
and is now dominant — and sitteth on a sphinx, and 
looketh unto Memphis and old Thehes ; while his sister 
oblivion reclineth semi-somnous on a Pyramid, gloriously 
triumphing, making puzzles of Titanian erections, and 
turning old glories into dreams. History sinketh beneath 
her cloud. The traveller as he passeth amazedly through 
those deserts asketh of her, who built them ? And she 
mumbleth something, but what it is he knoweth 
not! ; ' 

I must pass over many other sights in Cairo. "If time 
permitted" — as public speakers say at a late hour — I 
could gossip about the magnificent tombs of the Caliphs, 
the citadel, and the splendid view of the city from its 
walls, with the mosques and busy streets at our feet, 
like Mahometan ant-hills, and with the hazy Libyan 
desert, and the Pyramids in the distant shore beyond the 
dark inlet of the Delta. 

But let us, before leaving, pay a farewell visit to 
its bazaars. A walk of a quarter of an hour across 
the open space before the hotel and through nameless 
streets, with little interest save to the Franks, brings 
us into those crowded arcades of merchandise. They are 
broader, higher, more aristocratic, and richer than those 
of Alexandria, and are the most picturesque we have seen 



CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS. 



51 



Not so out-and-out Oriental, critics say, as those of 
Damascus, but, to a stranger who cannot detect the true 
signs of genuine Orientalism they are fully more interest- 
ing. They are partially covered at the top with matting 




ONE OF THE A WOMAN OF THE THE POORER CLASS. 

RICHER CLASS. POORER CLASS. 

or palm-leaves, to keep out the glare of the sun and to 
produce coolness. Every trade has its own " location," 
and birds of a feather here flock together, whether gun- 
smiths, butchers, coppersmiths, or shoemakers, dealers in 
soft goods or hardware, pipes or tobacco, horse gear, 
groceries, carpets, or confections. 



52 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



The people who crowd these bazaars, in their various 
costumes of many colours, are always a source of intense 
interest. The most striking points in the buildings are 
the balconies, which in some cases almost meet from 
opposite sides of the street ; but there is an endless 
variety of quaint tumble-down bits of architecture, with 
fountains and gateways shutting in the different quarters, 
while the mosques, with their high walls and airy 
minarets, overlook all. Ever and anon we saw vistas 
along narrow crowded lanes, and views into back courts 
and caravanserais, with such groupings of men and 
camels, merchants and slaves, horses and donkeys, 
Bedouins and Nubians, mingled with such brilliant colours, 
from Persian carpets and shawls, such bright lights and 
sharply denned shadows, as made every yard in our 
progress exciting, and tempted us to sit down as often as 
possible on some bench or shop-front to enjoy the inimit- 
able picturesqueness of the scene. 

As to the dogs which throng the streets, they are a 
great Eastern Institution, constantly present in all its 
magnitude to the eye and ear of the traveller. The Cairo 
clogs, so far as I could judge, belong to the same pariah 
race, in form and feature, as those of other Eastern cities. 
They are ugly brutes, without any domestic virtues, and 
without culture or breeding ; coarse-skinned, blear-eyed, 
and scrubby-tailed. They lead an independent public life, 
owe no allegiance to any master or mistress, not even to 
any affectionate boy or girl. . They have no idea of human 
companionship, and could not conceive the possibility of 




STREET SCENE IN CAIRO. 



CAIKO AND THE PYKAMIDS. 



55 



enjoying a walk with man or woman, nor of playing with 
children, mourning a master's absence, or barking wildly 
on his return home. They are utterly heathen, and 
never, like our decent sheep dogs, enter church or mosque. 
No tradition has ever reached them of any of their tribe 
having entered a house, even as a tolerated beggar, far 
less as a welcome guest or honoured friend. To have 
built the Pyramids or reigned at Memphis would not 
appear to them more absurd than their possession of such 
aristocratic privileges. They are kindly treated by the 
public in so far as good goes, yet not as friends, but only 
as despised wretches, the depth of whose degradation is 
made to measure the charity of those who deign to show 
mercy to them. We saw six of them watching patiently 
a poor man at breakfast. How low must their self- 
respect have sunk ! Alms, when bestowed even gener- 
ously, are received without any genial wag of the tail. 
That caudal appendage has no expression in it, its sym- 
pathetic affection is gone. Their political organisation is 
loose, though a kind of republic exists among them, 
made up of confederate states, each state being a particu- 
lar quarter of the town, and independent of every other. 
They cannot rise to the idea of United States. Thus, if 
any dog wanders beyond the limit of his own district, he 
is pursued by the tribe upon whom he has presumed to 
intrude, and is worried until he returns home, to gnaw 
his own stale bones, consume his own stale offal, and be 
supported by his own niggers. These four-footed beasts 
have no home, no kennel, no barrel even which they can 



56 



FROM ENGLAND TO PALESTINE. 



call their own. A rug, a carpet, or even a bed of straw, 
is an unheard-of luxury. They live day and night in the 
streets. Miserable creatures ! I don't believe the smallest 
skye terrier would acknowlege them as belonging to his 
race, but, proud as a piper, would snarl past them with 
erect tail, and a low growl of dogmatic unbelief in the 
idenity of the species, and of insulted dignity at the 
notion of a return bark being expected from him. 

We had one thing more to do ere we left Cairo for 
Palestine, and that was to hire a dragoman. There were 
many applicants. These men are constantly prowling 
about the Hotel ; they scent the prey afar off, they meet 
you in the lobbies, sidle up to you under the Verandah, 
tap at the door of your bedroom, beg pardon in French, 
Italian or English, all equally bad ; ask if you " want a 
dragoman," produce an old book of certificates, signed by 
the various parties with whom they have travelled, and 
profess to be ready to proceed with you at a moment's 
notice to Jerusalem or Timbucto. Dragomen are, by 
the catholic consent of all travellers, considered as scoun- 
drels. But I am inclined to dissent from this as from 
most sweeping generalisations regarding classes of men. 
It is alleged of a Scotch traveller, that when told at 
Cairo by his companion that they must get a dragoman, 
he asked, " What kind of beast's that ?" 

Now I know that some travellers have started on the 
assumption that the dragoman is but a beast, though a 
necessaiy one, for the journey; and from want of 
confidence have suspected, accused, and worried him, 



CAIRO AND THE PYRAMIDS. 



57 



threatened him with appeals to the consul, and such 
like, without any adequate cause, and thus have helped to 
produce the very selfishness and dishonesty and " want 
of interest in the party " which they accuse him of. Hadji 
Ali, who was employed by the Prince of Wales on his 
tour, offered himself to us, and was accepted ; and so, 
having settled that important point, we left Cairo on 
Saturday for Alexandria, gratefully acknowledging that 
we had never in one week seen so much to interest us, or 
to furnish thought for after years. 



FKOM JAFFA TO JEBUSALEM. 



FKOM JAFFA TO JEKUSALEM. 



CHAPTER V. 

JAFFA. 

WE embarked at Alexandria on Sunday evening in a 
Russian steamer which was to start at early dawn 
for Jaffa. When I say we, I do not at present use the 
editorial or the modest we instead of the too personal and 
obtrusive I. It is intended to express the party which 
embarked at Alexandria to visit Palestine together. 

Now one of the most difficult practical problems which 
a traveller has to solve is the choice of the companions 
who make up the 4 ' we." His comfort, the whole atmo- 
sphere of the journey, the enjoyment from it at the time 
and from its memory afterwards, depend in a great degree 
on those who accompany him. Let him beware of his 
espousals. A divorce may be impossible for months, and 
his sufferings in the meantime great. Accept therefore 



62 



FEOItf JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



of no man who for any reason whatever can get sulky or 
who is thin-skinned, who cannot understand a joke or 
appreciate a bad pun, who has a squeaking voice which 
he is for ever pestering the echoes to admire and repeat, 
who refuses to share the pain of his party by paying 
when cheated, who cannot " rough it " and suffer in 
silence, who has long legs, with knees that reach across 
a carriage, or who snores loudly. Avoid such a man. 
Flee from him, if necessary, unless he reform. What is 
needed above all is geniality, frank and free cordial com- 
panionship, with the power of sympathising not only 
with his party but with the spirit of the scenes and people 
among whom he moves. The feeling with which a man 
gazes for the first time on some famous spot, like Jerusa- 
lem or Tiberias, colours the whole afterthought of it. 
Let one of the party at such a time strike and keep up a 
false note, the whole music is changed into discord, and 
so echoes for ever in the ear of memory. Xow I state 
all these qualifications with greater confidence inasmuch 
as our party was quite unexceptionable. As we never 
had the slightest difference in our happy journey, I shall 
indulge the confident hope that the we will generally con- 
cur in the account, such as it is or may be, which "I " 
may give of it. 

The steamer was very comfortable, but very slow. 
There was no forcing her even in smooth water up to 
eight knots. The captain was a short man, round as a 
barrel, and with a bullet head, like a seal's, covered by 
shiny black hair. He was very civil, in his own official way. 



JAFFA. 



63 



The vessel was crowded with "pilgrims," coming from - 
Mecca I believe, though I cannot be positive. "What 
interested me most on here meeting, for the first time, 
with a freight of pilgrims, was their great numbers and 
their strange habits on shipboard. They were spread 
everywhere over the decks in family groups, leaving only 
narrow paths barely sufficient for sailors or curious 
passengers to move along without treading on them. 
They lay huddled up in carpets and coverings with the 
sort of quiet submission to their position which good 
Europeans manifest in yielding themselves up to death 
and the. grave. Whether they slept, meditated, or were 
in utter unconsciousness, it is difficult to say ; for during 
most of the day few seemed to attempt to move or shake 
themselves loose from their place of rest. 

When the sun shone bright in the morning or evening, 
and the ship was not uneasy, there was a general rising 
up of turbans like flowers from the variegated beds of a 
garden. Nargiles were then produced, lights were passed, 
bags, handkerchiefs, or other repositories opened, and 
bread, with figs, garlic, or some other condiment, divided 
by the old bearded Turkey .-cock and his hen among their 
young in the nest around them. It was marvellous to 
see, as we noticed afterwards on longer voyages than this, 
how little suffices to satisfy the wants of Orientals. 

The one half of the quarter-deck was tented with 
canvas, and set apart for the more aristocratic portion 
of the pilgrims ; but, except for the darting out and in of 
some young black-eyed girl or slave who supplied them 



64 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



with water, the long tent was as still as the grave. So 
still, indeed, did some of those Easterns keep, so sub- 
missive and patient were they under all pressure of cir- 
cumstances, that on one occasion when I went to enjoy 
the quiet and the fresh breeze at the vessel's bow, and 
sat on the fore jib, which had been hauled down and 
stowed, I sprang up in alarm on finding it to move under 
me. I discovered to my horror that I had been sitting 
for some time on a Moslem ! He survived the pressure ; 
nay, smiled at my expression of alarm. I hope he has 
not suffered since. 

We were rather doubtful as to where we should be put 
ashore, for the landing at Jaffa is not always to be de- 
pended upon. There is no port for the steamer to enter ; 
and if the weather be at all rough, boats cannot leave the 
harbour : and should they be able to do so, there is often 
much danger in entering it again, as the passage through 
the reef of rocks is very narrow, and boats are apt to ship 
a sea from the breakers, and thus be swamped. 

Fortunately the weather was propitious. This settled 
the case in favour of Jaffa, or old Joppa. 

On the afternoon of Tuesday we were approaching the 
Holy Land, and straining our eyes to get a first glimpse 
of its everlasting hills. 

The sun was setting as we descried the long low lino 
of the Palestine coast. It had set when we blew off our 
steam, a mile or so from the shore. The twinkling lights 
of boats were then seen like stars coming towards us, and 



JAFFA. 



65 



goon the port officials stood on deck demanding a clean 
bill of health ; and this being produced, boat after boat 
came clustering to the ship's side. 

Then arose an indescribable Babel from the screeching 
of their crews, who seemed engaged in some fierce and 




JAFFA. 



deadly strife of words, which was itself an interesting 
Jtudy, until, after a while, amidst the roaring of steam 
and of voices, we were by degrees carried along over the 
side and down to a boat, in a current of sailors, Turks, 

F 



•66 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



Arabs, passengers, portmanteaus, dragomen, and travel- 
lers, while officers and captain were at the gangway acting 
a pantomime in despair, vociferating Bussian louder than 
the steam, stamping their feet, grasping their hair, and 
appearing half apoplectic with their efforts to he heard. 
It was a great relief to be off from the ship's side (though 
more than once I thought unpleasantly of Jonah) and to 
pull for the old shore. 

Our landing-place was a shelf of wood projecting over- 
head, under which our boat was brought, and from which 
a dozen hands of unknown and, in the darkness, dimly 
visible Arabs, were stretched down to help me up. I 
was quite alive to the "slip between the cup and the lip," 
but somehow, though not without difficulty, I was 
dragged to land, and found myself in Palestine. I cannot 
say that I was wanting in emotion, yet it was emotion in 
no way kindled by the spot I trod upon, but by the vil- 
lanous crowd who surrounded me, forcing every thought 
into one uncontrollable desire to be delivered from these 
Philistines. We soon got clear of the town, and then as 
we paced along on the yielding, sandy road, with a rich 
aroma perfuming the air from orange groves and other 
odoriferous trees, the fact began to dawn slowly upon me 
that I was at last really in the Holy Land and treading 
the Plain of Sharon. 

I ascended the house-top alone at night, and then — 
how could it be else ? — the delightful feeling grew upon 
me — "I am in Palestine! This is no dream ! " Little 
could be seen except the stars, which scintillated in the 



JAFFA. (37 

<calm brilliancy of an Eastern night. The deep silence of 
the night was broken only by the sea, which came boom- 
ing in low hollow sounds from the shore, as it did in the 
■days of Jonah, or as when heard by Peter while journey- 




EASTERN HOUSE-TOPS. 



ingfrom Jaffa to Caesarea along the whole sandy tract 
which passed near our dwelling. 

Early next morning we went to Jaffa, and then for the 
first time I saw ' < the Land" under the full blaze of tho 
sun. The atmosphere was delicious, and the sky cloud- 
less. The first impression made upon me, as upon every 



68 



FRO 31 JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



traveller, was the marvellous richness, tlie orchard-beauty 
of the neighbourhood. 

The path wound between rows of cacti (the opuntia), 
or prickly pear, varying from three or four to fifteen feet 
in height ; and one could not help pausing to look at 
their great soft fibrous stems fringed with leaves (?) re- 
sembling thick green cakes or "bannocks" stuck with 
needles, and forming a defence through which the breeze 
can pass in full volume, but quite impervious to man or 
beast. 

The gardens of fruit-bearing trees are the glory of Jaffa. 
There are endless groves of oranges and lemons, apricots, 
pomegranates, figs, and olives, with mulberry and acacia 
trees, the stately palm towering above them all. I was 
informed that there are about three hundred and fifty 
gardens around this old town, the smallest being three or 
four acres in extent, the largest ten or twelve. 

Of these gardens two hundred and fifty have one well, 
and about a hundred two wells each. Each well employs 
about three animals, who work day and night for six 
months in the year, and draw each about one thousand 
cubic feet of water in the twenty-four hours. This gives 
one some idea of the "'water-privileges," as the Yankees 
would say, of the Plain of Sharon ; and I believe the 
same abundance of water is procurable from the whole of 
the Philistian plain, which accounts for its present fertility, 
and, to some extent, for its ancient wealth and the number 
its inhabitants. 

About eight millions of oranges are grown every year 



JAFFA. 



71 



in the gardens around Jaffa. Several hundreds are borne 
by a single tree, and are sold wholesale at an average of 
little more than three-pence the hundred. In retail, ten- 
are sold for a penny in Jaffa. An orange -grove gave me 
the idea of rich and luxurious fruitfulness more than any 
other sight I ever beheld. The number of oranges which 
can haug from a single branch is remarkable. The ac- 
companying engraving is an exact representation in size 
and all respects of a twig I broke off with four clustered, 
on it. 




The size, too, of the fruit is extraordinary, averaging- 
ten to twelve inches in circumference, w T hile some reach 
seventeen inches. Even the apricots, we were informed, 
sometimes attain the size of fifteen inches. The colour, 
as well as the size of the fruit, and the immense clusters 
which loaded every tree, made the grove much more im- 
pressive than the vineyard, in spite of all its hanging 
bunches of luscious grapes. 

We saw them harvesting the fruit. It was carried by 
merry boys and girls, in large basketfuls, and laid in heaps* 



72 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



I confess that my first thought was what a paradise this 
would be for our Sunday-school children on their annual 
holiday. What a luxury to be allowed, not to suck the 
sour fruit purchased with their only half-penny from a 
barrow in the street, but to bury their whole face, gratis, 
in a succession of those immense fountains of ripe and 
delicious juice ! Milk and honey would be nothing to it. 
They would never feel disappointed with Palestine ! 

The only disappointing thing about an orange-grove, 
or any garden which I saw in the East, was the rough- 
ness of the ground. It is cut up into trenches for the 
purpose of irrigation. Velvety grass exists not : this 
would make the retreat perfect. 

Outside of the gate of Jaffa was a place I would have 
liked well to have lingered at. It is a large open space, 
vanishing into the country, and filled with all the pic- 
turesque Oriental nondescripts to whom I have alluded 
in former pages, and who, from crown to heel, had to me 
an undying interest. To the usual crowd which was ever 
moving in that open space, with camels, donkeys, horses, 
and oxen, were added troops of horses which for weeks 
and months had been constantly passing from every part 
of the country along the plain, by the old road to Egypt, 
via Gaza, to supply the immense losses sustained there 
from the murrain. Most of those we saw were very 
inferior cattle, and represented but the dregs of the land, 
yet they were selling at high, and, for the East, exorbitant 
prices. The strange-looking characters that accompanied 
them represented the lowest conceivable grade of horse- 



JAFFA. 



73 



dealers : their faces being a study for the physiognomist 
as well as the artist. We preferred studying them by 
sunlight rather than moonlight. 

The first place in Jaffa which the traveller naturally 
desires to visit is the traditional house of Simon the 
tanner, in which the Apostle Peter lived. A portion of 
it at least is evidently a modern building, but if it is not 
the old house, it is nevertheless well worth visiting from 
the characteristic view which is obtained from its flat 
roof. Standing there, I felt myself for the first time 
brought into local contact, as it were, with those persons 
and facts in Gospel history with which every Christian is 
familiar. 

The house is close to the sea-wall, and looks to the 
south. The whole landscape, as seen from the roof, is 
instructive. Along that winding shore, and not far from 
the town, tanners still ply their trade : and they may 
have done so since the days of the Apostle. 

The great sea, whose blue waves danced before us in 
the sunlight, and spread themselves to the horizon to 
wash the shores of Europe beyond, seemed also to par- 
take of the light shed from the vision revealed to the 
inner eye of the Apostle when praying beneath this blue 
sky. He had gazed on this sea, unchanged since then 
in its features, and un wrinkled by time ; but as he did 
so, he little knew what endless blessings of Christian 
consolation and of spiritual life were given to our 
Western world in promise, and let down from Heaven 
with that wide sheet! The lesson thus symbolically 



7^ 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



taught, filled him with pain as it destroyed his past, but 
fills us with gratitude as it secured our future. 

Nor could we forget, while standing there, that the 
first link which unconsciously bound tho Apostle to 
Europe, was the person of an Italian ; that, at their first 
meeting, the Roman knelt to Peter, and was rebuked 
in the memorable words, " Stand up, for I also am a 
man ! " 

One has also an excellent view of the harbour of Jaffa 
from this same spot. The coast of Syria has really no 
harbours — such as we mean by the name. It is a line 
of sand, against which the inland ocean of the Mediter- 
ranean thunders with the full force and volume of its 
waves. The existence of a few rocky ledges like a coral 
reef running parallel to the shore, forming a breakwater 
to the small lagoon inside, has alone made harbours 
possible — and. with harbours, commerce and direct com- 
munication with the outer world. Yet, had these been 
more commodious and common than they are, the sepa- 
rateness of the land from the rest of the world (for which 
it was selected in order to educate Israel) would have 
been sacrificed. As it is, the balance is nicely adjusted 
between exclusion from the outer world and union 
with it. 

To this small reef of rocks Jaffa, the only seaport of 
the land of Israel, owes its existence as well as its con- 
tinuance from the earliest period of history until the 
present day. Within that pond, sheltered from the 
foaming breakers outside, many a vessel lay in peace 



JAFFA. 



75 



before even the days of Joshua (ch. xix. 46). Belonging 
as it did to the tribe of Dan, there ' 6 Dan remained in 
ships "(Judges v. 17). 

Through that opening, but ten feet wide, to the west, 
vessels have sailed, and plunged into the deep sea — 
Jonahs among them — for thousands of years. Through 
the other opening, of much the same size, to the north, 
have come the floats of cedar trees from Lebanon for 
rebuilding the house of the Lord. The old town has 
seen many adventures, and the cry of battle from the 
wars of the Maccabees, the Eomans, the Saracens, the 
Crusaders, has risen around its walls, and within its 
houses. Yet its history is not so eventful as that of most 
of the old Eastern towns which survive the wrecks of 
time. 

But we must leave the house-top, and keep our ap- 
pointment at the hotel to prepare for our journey, which 
is to begin in real earnest on the morrow. 



FKOM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



CHAPTER YL 

ACROSS THE PLAIN OF SHARON. 

T HAVE already inforniecl the reader of the important 
fact, that we had hired at Cairo a certain Hadji AJi as 
our dragoman. Hadji was an honourable addition made 
to the name, and it represented the fact that he had 
made a pilgrimage to Mecca. We had hired him as the 
consecrated, saintly Hadji. Xow it must be confessed that 
the Hadji did not look like a saint such as our Western 
minds conceive one to be. If he was one, he had the gift 
of concealing the saint and revealing the sinner. But, to 
do him justice, this revelation was more in an unpleasant 
sinister twist of his under jaw, in the bandit look of his 
gaiters, and in the wide-awake, yet reserved and cun- 
ning, expression of his eyes, than in any word he ever 
utteredj or in any act he ever committed during our journey. 



\ 

CAMP LIFE. 



77 



Hadji had made arrangements for the road, and wished 
us to see our horses, and be satisfied with his selection — 
a most difficult and important piece of business ! We 
met at the door of the hotel — one of those peculiar 
Eastern hostelries of which I shall afterwards speak — 
to make our acquaintance with our future friends, the 
horses. They seemed a vulgar pack, without breeding 
or anything to commend them. But after sundry ex- 
periments, protests, rejections, and trials of the girths 
and saddles, we at last selected our cattle, and arranged 
to start next morning. I had brought an English saddle 
with me, and it was ordered to be put on a quiet, patient, 
respectable-looking cob — afterwards called, in spite, " the 
cow." 

I availed myself of the opportunity afforded to me of 
here visiting a real native dwelling. It was what in 
Scotland would be called a humble " clay biggin'." The 
fire was on the floor. The furniture consisted of two 
large — what shall I call them ? — jars, three or four feet 
high, for holding grain, with an orifice at the bottom for 
extracting it. There was also a quern, exactly the same 
as those used in the Highlands, and with which, when a 
youth, I have often ground corn for my amusement. A 
bottle full of oil hung up in the smoke, in order, I pre- 
sume, to keep it always in a fit state for the lamp — 
reminding one of the saying of David in his sorrow, "'I 
am become like a bottle in the smoke." The beds, con- 
sisting only of carpets and rugs, were rolled up in a 
corner. 



78 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



Next morning our calvacade mustered, and we saw, 
for the first time, the materiel of a tour in Palestine. As to 
the men who accompanied us, there was our chief, Hadji 
Ali, with brown braided jacket, loose Turkish trousers, 
and long black gaiters or leggings. A bright kaffia was 
wrapped round his head and protected his neck and 
shoulders. Hadji had a horse, of course, assigned to 
him, but was always willing to exchange it for the animal 
which became unpopular with any of the party. 

Next to him in dignity and responsibility was "Nubi," 
or the Nubian. He was our waiter, personal servant, 
steward, or whatever will best describe Hadji's mate. 
He was a tall young man, with skin dark as ebony, 
shining teeth, intelligent countenance, of most obliging 
disposition, from whom we never heard a murmur. 

The third class was represented by Mohammed, the 
cook, excellent as an artist, and most civil as a man, 
whose sole defect was liability to occasional pains, in- 
timately connected with his digestion, to alleviate which 
I ministered from my medicine-chest, thereby securing 
to myself from that time the honourable title of Hakeem 
Pasha, or chief physician. 

Then came Meeki, the master of the horse, and also of 
the mules. Meeki always rode a small ass — a creature 
which, unless he had known himself to be tough and 
enduring, would have been an ass indeed to have per- 
mitted Meeki to mount him. He was a square, thickset 
man, with short legs, broad back, and ponderous tur- 
baned head. He rode astride or cross-legged, as it suited 



CAMP LIFE. 



79 



iiim. The human side of his character came out wholly 
•as a smoker of his constant friend the nargile, and as a 
singer or rather an earnest student of songs, which con- 
sisted of little short squeaks full of shakes, and in a 
minor key. His inhuman side came out in the dogged , 
Herce, imperious way in which he loaded and drove the 
pack-horses and mules. I verily believe Meeki had no 




the master of the horse (an original sketch). 

more heart in him than Balaam, and as little conscience. 
He was a constant study to us, whether when packing or 
unpacking at morn or even, or when trudging along at 
the head of the party on his wonderful little animal, 
which he so completely covered, that one could see only 
two small black hind legs pattering along with inde- 



80 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



fatigable energy over sand and rock from morning till 
night. 

Meeki had three muleteers under him, fine active Arab 
lads, who trembled at his voice. We had thus seven 
attendants, including Hadji, with about ten pack-horses 
and mules. All were needed : for, there are no roads in 
Palestine, and therefore no wheeled vehicles from Dan 
to Beersheba, not even a wheelbarrow. There are no 
hotels, except at Jaffa and Jerusalem ; everything, there- 
fore, required for the journey must be carried. 

We left Jaffa after breakfast. The day was beautiful, 
and the atmosphere exhilarating : so we moved off, 
across the Plain of Sharon, full of hope for the future 
and in great enjoyment of the present. We drew up at 
a grove that formed the outskirts of the gardens, and 
were made welcome to take as many oranges as we 
could pocket from the yellow heaps which were rapidly 
increasing every minute by the gatherers emptying their 
basket-loads of the ripe and delicious fruit. 

To appreciate an orange it must be eaten when taken 
from the tree and while retaining the full aroma treasured 
from sun and air. It may have been fancy, but it seemed 
to me that I had never, except here or at Malta, eaten a 
perfect orange. 

We passed in our ride this forenoon a small hill, or 
rather mound, called Beth Dagon, where no doubt that 
fish god had once his foolish worshippers. Then we 
saw a handsome fountain called, I know not why, after 
Abraham ; and we afterwards saw, what were older thai* 



ACROSS THE PLAIN OF SHARON. 



81 



Abraham, and what retained all the glory and beauty of 
their youth — the flowers of the plain. 

These were always a charm to the eye — a glory of the 
earth far surpassing that of Solomon. The plains and 
hills of Palestine are gemmed in spring with flowers. 
The red poppy, asphodel, pheasant's-eye, pink cranebill, 
mignonette, tulip, thyme, marsh marigold, white irisi 




broom, &c, are common to the Plain of Sharon, giving a 
life and light to the landscape which photography cannot 
yet copy. 

We saw also, when near Ludd ; the well-known high 



G 



82 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



tower of the mosque at Ramleh, three miles off to onr 
right. It is situated on the highest ridge of the plain, 
and from its position and height (120 feet) it is said to 
command a noble view of the Plain of Sharon to the 
north, and of the Plain of Philistia to the south. 

We lunched at Ludd, the ancient Lydda, where the 
Aj jstle Peter cured Eneas of the palsy. We pushed on 
for the ruins of the church named after England's patron 
saint, St. George, who was, according to tradition, born 
and buried here. The church, it is said, was rebuilt by 
Richard Cceur cle Lion. "We spread our first table in 
Palestine under the remains of one of its noble marble 
arches. Here an old, bearded Greek Christian visited 
us, and told us many stories about St. George, with 
keen, beheving eyes, bated breath, and uplifted finger. 
I wish I could recollect them, and had not too hastily 
assumed that I never would forget such delightful sensa- 
tion legends regarding the saint; how he was slain, 
burnt, and beheaded by the Ejng of Damascus, and 
always came alive again; with the subsequent adventures 
of his head, which was said to be buried under the high 
altar. But these legends have passed away from my 
memory. 

After luncheon we pushed on for our camping-ground 
at Jinisu. The village is situated on a spur of the hills 
of Judea. 

lire first encampment is always a source of interest 
and excitement to the traveller. "We formed no excep- 
tion to this general experience. Those who associate 



THE PLAIN OF SHAEON. 



sa 



discomfort with a tent have never lived in one, or it, 
must have been bad, or overcrowded, or, worse than all, 
in a wet or cold climate. We had two tents ; the one- 
accommodating three persons, the other two. 

On entering the head-quarters and mess-tent, we found 
the floor spread with rugs ; a table round the pole in 
the centre, arranged for dinner, covered with a beautiful 
white cloth, and on it two wax candles burning, with 
ample space round for our camp-stools. Three iron 
bedsteads were ranged along the sides, and our bags and 
portmanteaus placed beside them, and everything wearing 
an air of thorough comfort, even luxury. The other 
tents, belonging to our suite, were pitched near us : one 
for the kitchen, and the cook's utensils and personal 
luggage ; and the other for the general dormitory of the 
servants, in which Hadji nightly led off the snores. . 

To pitch those tents so as to have them all in order 
in the evening to receive " the party," it is necessary 
that the muleteers should start early with them and all 
the baggage, and push on direct to the ground fixed 
upon, leaving the travellers and dragoman to follow at. 
their leisure. 

An excellent dinner was in due time served up by Hadji^ 
xnd assiduously attended by Nubi. We had not much 
variety during our tour, but every day there was more 
than enough to satisfy the cravings of any healthy, even 
fastidious appetite. Soup, roast mutton, fowls, curry, ex- 
cellent vegetables, a pudding, a good dessert, and cafe noir? 
of first rate quality afterwards, cannot be called " rough- 



84 FE03I JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 

ing it in the desert/' This sort of dinner we had every 
clay. And for breakfast, good tea and coffee, eggs by 
the dozen, always fresh and good too, with sundry dishes 
cunningly made up of the debris of the previous dinner. 
We had also an abundant luncheon, which the Hadji 
carried with him on a pack-horse, and was ready at any 
time, or in anyplace, to serve up with the greatest nicety. 




PORTRAIT OF A SHEIK. 



When we reached our tents we found a large number 
of peasant Arabs, from the neighbouring village, as- 
sembled. They were very quiet and civil, and did not 
trouble us much about backsheesh, although our experience 
regarding this Eastern impost was daily, almost hourly, 
enlarging. Every petty Sheik, whether of tribe or vil- 
lage,, thinks himself entitled to it ; the children clamour 
for it ; their parents support the claim ; and in some 



A MUSICAL SNUFF-BOX. 



85 



wady, men with clubs or guns may urge it upon the 
wayfarer to a degree beyond politeness. 

But admitting once for all this notorious Oriental 
weakness, I must also protest against the injustice done 
to the oppressed descendants of Ishmael, by looking upon 
them as the only race guilty of levying such an income- 
tax or " black mail." What is the British " tip," " fee," 
" Christmas Box," " trifle," &c. ? 

The Arabs of the village of Jimsu asked backsheesh, 
and we distributed about sixpence among the tribe. 
They were satisfied. 

But I had provided a talisman wherewith to " soothe 
the savage breast." I selected' it for a priori reasons, 
founded on human nature, before leaving London. In- 
stead of taking powder and shot, I took — could the 
reader ever guess what ? — a musical snuff-box, to conquer 
the Arabs ; and the experiment succeeded far beyond my 
most sanguine expectations. 

"Whenever we pitched our tent near a village, as on 
this occasion, and produced the box as a social reformer, 
we had soon a considerable number of people, old and 
young (the females keeping at a respectful distance), 
crowding round us, inquisitively but not disagreeably. 
When the box was wound up, and the tinkling sounds 
were heard, they gazed on it with an expression more 
of awe and fear than of wonder. 

It was difficult to get any one to venture near it, far 
less to allow it to touch his head. But once this was 
accomplished, it was truly delightful to see the revolution 



86 FROM JAFFA TO .JERUSALEM. 

which those beautiful notes, as they sounded clear and 
loud through the Arab skull, produced upon the features 
of the listener. The anxious brow was smoothed, the 
black eye lighted up, the lips were parted in a broad smile 
which revealed the ivory teeth, and the whole man seemed 




GATE OP SYRIAN TILLAGE. 



to become humanized as he murmured with delight, 
" tayeeb, tayeeb " (good, good). 

When once the fears of one were dispelled, the others 
took courage, until there was a general scramble and com- 
petition, from the village patriarch down to his grand- 



FIRST NIGHT IN A TENT. 



87 



children, to hear the wonderful little box which could 
bring such marvellous music through the brain. 

I did not find my first night in a tent either ideal or 
agreeable. The ear was as yet unaccustomed to the 
heterogeneous noise which found an easy entrance 
through the canvas. All night the horses and mules 
seemed to be settling old quarrels, or to be in violent dis- 
pute about some matters of personal or local interest ; 
a scream, a kick, a stumble over the tent ropes — shaking 
oar frail habitation and making us start — appeared to 
mark a climax in the argument. The Arabs kept up an 
incessant jabber all night — as it seemed to me. The 
voices, too, of Meeki and Hadji were constantly heard 
amidst the Babel. Every village, moreover, has its dogs 
without number : and these barked, howled, and flew 
about as if smitten with hydrophobia, or in full cry of a 
midnight chase. 

One imagined, too — or, worse than all, believed — 
that some of those wolfish and unclean animals were 
snuffling under the canvas close to the bed, or thumping 
against it, as if trying to get an entrance. And if 
this living creature rubbing against your thin wall was 
not a dog, might it not be an Arab ? — and if an Arab 
might he not have a gun or dagger ? — and then ! But all 
these experiences belonged to our novitiate. Very soon, 
between increased fatigue by day, and increased sleep by 
night, all such thoughts and fears vanished, until dogs 
might bark, horses kick, Arabs talk, and camels groan, 
without disturbing us more than the waves disturb Ailsa 
*Craig or Gibraltar. 



FEOM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OX THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SA3IWIL. 

BEFORE bringing the reader to Xeby Samwil, and 
picturing to him as best we can, what we saw from 
it, we must begin, like most gossips, at the beginning, 
which in this case is our early start from the tent, when 
there is a scene common to all mornings in a Palestine 
tour. 

The tents and baggage precede the travellers, in order 
that everything may be ready on their arrival at the end 
of the day's journey, which implies the tents pitched, the 
luggage arranged, the candles lighted, and the dinner 
ready. " Where shall we encamp ? " is not always easy 
of solution ; for various matters must be taken into 
account — such as the distance to be travelled, the proha- 



THE CAMPING- GROUND. 



89 



biliiy of pitching among civil neighbours, or of finding a 
Sheik who may be known to the dragoman ; the supply 
of water, good shelter, and the chance of procuring pro- 
visions. 

The camping-ground being settled, preparations are 
made for the start. It is obviously most conducive to 
comfort to " break the back of the day " in the cool of 
the morning and before noon. It is therefore in vain that 
a lazy or sleepy man wishes to enjoy " a little more sleep 
and a little more slumber; " in vain may he, in the weak- 
ness of the flesh and for the credit of his conscience, assert, 
half asleep, half awake, that he had a restless night, for 
his companions testify to a continued snore from him like 
the burst of waves on a stony beach. Of course their 
testimony he indignantly rejects as incompetent. But in 
the mean time the pins of the tent are being pulled up. 
The ropes slacken, the tent-pole quivers, and to your 
horror you discover that your canvas dwelling is being 
taken down, and that in a few minutes, unless you start 
up and get dressed, you will be exposed in bed in open 
daylight, to the gaze of a crowd of grinning Arabs with 
piercing eyes and white teeth, who are watching for you 
as the tag-rag of a town for the removal of the canvas 
which conceals the wild beasts at a show. Move you 
must, therefore move you do. 

Very soon thereafter the beds are rolled up, the bag- 
gage packed, and everything stowed away on horse or 
mule's back, except the breakfast-table and camp stools 
around it, where the moveable feast is served up. But 



90 FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 

that packing ! It was always a study to us, and never 
failed to excite remark and laughter. 

On such an occasion Meeki, the master of the horse, 
came out in the full strength of his power and passion. 
He reigned triumphant. His spirit seemed to inspire all 
the muleteers and the Arabs who assisted him, so that a 
common hysterical vehemence seized the whole group. 
They shouted, screeched, yelled, without a moment's 
pause. All seemed to be in a towering passion at every 
person and everything, and to be hoarse with rage and 
guttural vociferation. Every parcel was strapped with a 
force and rapidity as if life depended upon it. The heavy 
packages were lifted with starting eyeballs and foaming 
lips on to the backs of the mules. One heard ever and 
anon a despairing cry as if from a throat clutched by a 
garrotter, " Had — ji A — li ! " which after a while drew 
forth the chief with a calm and placid smile to decide the 
question in dispute. 

At last the long line of our baggage animals moved, with 
trunks of crockery, rolls of bedding, and piles of portman- 
teaus and bags. Off the loaded animals went at a trot, 
with the bells tinkling round their necks, the muleteers 
following on foot, and driving them along the rough path 
at a far more rapid pace than we could follow. Meeki 
then took off his turban, dried his head, lighted his 
nargile, sat sideways on his dot of an ass, and brought 
up the rear of our calvacade with a calmness and peace 
which had no traces of even the heavy swell that gene- 
Tally follows a hurricane by sea or land. 



THE SO-CALLED ROADS. 



93 



One or two other characteristics of every spring morn- 
ing in Palestine may be here mentioned. Nothing can 
exceed the buoyant, exhilarating atmosphere. The dews 
of night, which are so heavy that any garments left out 
become saturated with moisture as if soaked in a tub of 
water, seem to invigorate the air as well as the vegetation. 
There is consequently a youth, life, and fragrance in these 
mornings. As the day advances, and the sun begins to 
pour down his heat, and the body becomes weak, the tents 
somehow appear to be too far off. 

The cavalcade generally rides along in single file. 
There is seldom a path, or a bit of meadow, wdiich per- 
mits of two jogging on together. But there is, after all, 
no great disadvantage in this limitation of riding space or 
of social conference, as there is no country in which silent 
thought and observation during a journey are more con- 
genial than in Palestine. 

The deliberate choosing of a Scripture scene for a place 
for luncheon, at first sounded as if it were an irreverence. 
Hadji rides up and inquires— " Where shall we lonch, 
Hakeem Pasha ? " adding with a humble smile : " "Where 
you please ! All same to me." Where shall it be ? At 
Bethlehem ? Bethel ? Shiloh ? Nain ? is discussed by the 
party. At first thought, it seems out of place to propose 
such a carnal thing as lunching on hard eggs and cold 
lamb at such places. Yet at these places one luncheons 
or dines, as the Patriarchs did before. 

The path by which we ascended the Judaean hills from 
the plain to the ridge at Gibeon is one of the worse tra- 



94 



FE03I JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



versed by us in Palestine. With, few exceptions, indeed,, 
the so-called roads are either covered with loose stones, 
or are worn down, by the travelling over them since the 
days of the Canaanites, into narrow trenches cut deep 
into the living rock ; or they go across slippery limestone 
ledges ; or over a series of big stones with deep holes 
between ; or are the channels of streams, which have the 
one advantage of being supplied with water to cool the 
hoofs of the floundering quadrupeds. 

But the horses are remarkably sure-footed, and the 
only danger arises from their riders checking them with 
the bridle, rather than letting them take their own way, 
and step with judicious thoughtfulness, as it often seemed 
to us, from stone to stone, picking their way with mar- 
vellous sagacity. Their pace is very slow. Not but that 
a rider with a " noble Arab steed " can manage to dash 
along and make " the stony pebbles fly" behind him; 
but this requires a good horse familiar with the ground, 
and a good rider as thoroughly acquainted with his horse. 

We paced slowly upwards over polished limestone or 
marble rocks, in some places actually up artificial steps. 
One hour from Jimsu. brought us to the lower Beth-horon, 
now called Beitur El Talita ; another hour to the upper 
Beth-horon, or Beitur El Foca. In two hours more we 
reached the upland plateau, and after crossing the ridge 
saw Gibeon (El Jib) before us. Passing it on its eastern 
side, near which our tents were pitched, we ascended 
Neby Samwil. 

There is not, I venture to affirm, in all Palestine, nor 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL. 95' 

if historical associations be taken into account, in the 
whole world, such a view as that seen from Neby Samwil. 
This is not because of its height (2,650 feet) — though, 
it is the highest point in Palestine, Hebron excepted 
— but from its position in relation to surrounding objects* 
This makes it a sort of centre, commanding such views 
of the most illustrious spots on earth as no other place 
affords. 

What was any scene on earth in comparison with the 
one which we were about to gaze on ! We were ap- 
proaching a moment in life which was to divide for ever 
what had been longed for from what was to be realised, 
and to become henceforth only a memory. We have all 
experienced at such times the choking of the heart, the 
suppressed emotion as the dream of years is about to 
become a reality. In a few moments, when that height 
is gained, we shall have seen Jerusalem ! 

The summit was reached in solemn silence. There- 
was no need of a guide to tell us what to look at first. 
Every face was turned towards Jerusalem. The eye and 
heart caught it at once, as they would a parent's bier 
in the empty chamber of death. The round hill dotted 
with trees, the dome beneath, the few minarets near 
it, — there were Olivet and Jerusalem ! No words were 
spoken, no exclamations heard ; nor are any explanations 
needed to enable the reader to understand our feelings 
when seeing, for the first time, the city of the Great. 
King. 

After a time we began with suppressed eagerness to 



96 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



search out other objects in the landscape, and the curi- 
osity became intense to identify its several features ; and 
then we heard words breathed quietly into our ears, as 
an arm was stretched out directing us to several famous 
spots whose names were holy, and which summoned up 
the most illustrious persons and events in the memory 
of the Christian. But I must patiently consider the 
panorama more in detail, that we may learn something 
from it, for we cannot stand on any spot in Palestine from 
which we can see or learn more. 

After Jerusalem, the first object that arrested me was 
the range of the hills of Moab. These mountains reared 
themselves like a straight unbroken wall, not one peak or 
point breaking the even line along the eastern sky from 
north to south. They were not higher above the level of 
the sea than the place on which we stood ; yet they 
seemed to form a gigantic barrier between us and the 
almost unknown country beyond. We saw the range in 
the most advantageous circumstanceSo It was towards 
evening. The setting sun fell upon it, and upon the wild 
eastern shores of the Dead Sea at its base, the sea itself 
being hidden in its deep hollow grave. The light was 
reflected from every scaur and precipice, with such a flush 
of purple, mingled with delicate hues of amethyst and 
ruby. The atmosphere, too, was so transparent, that we 
distinctly saw beyond the Dead Sea. 

The next thing that impressed me, standing here, was 
the smallness of " the land." We saw across it. On one 
side was the great sea, on which sails were visible ; on 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL, 97 

the other, the range of Moab, which is beyond the 
eastern boundary of Palestine. To the south we saw 
within a few miles of Hebron ; while to the north we 
discovered the steep promontory of Carmel plunging its 
beak into the sea. It is difficult to conceive that the 
Palestine of the Patriarchs — that is, the country from 
the inhabited " south " to the great plain of Esdraelon, 
which, like a green strait, sweeps past Carmel to the 
steeps above the Jordan, and separates the old historical 
land of Canaan from Galilee — does not extend farther 
than the distance between Glasgow and Perth, and 
could be traversed by an express train in two or three 
hours. But so it is. The whole land, even from Dan to 
Beersheba, is not larger than Wales. We saw not only 
the entire breadth but almost the entire length of the 
Palestine of the Patriarchs from the height of Neby 
Samwil. 

And how did the land look? Was it picturesque? 
Had it that romantic beauty of hill and dale, that look of 
a second Paradise, which one has sometimes heard in de- 
scriptions of it from the pulpit ? Well, it did not give me 
this impression. But what then ? 

What if it is not to be compared with a thousand spots 
in our own island — which by the way includes within 
its rocky shores more scenes of varied beauty than any 
other portion of the earth ; — what if Westmoreland and 
Wales, not to speak of the Scotch Highlands, contain 
landscapes far more lovely than are to be found in Pales- 
tine? 



98 



FEOM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



Still Palestine stands alone ; — alone in its boundaries of 
seas and sandy deserts and snow-clad mountains ; and 
alone in the variety of its soil, climate, and productions. 
I do not claim for it either beauty or grandeur — which 
may be found in almost every region of the globe— but I 
claim for it peculiarities and contrasts to which no other 
region can afford a parallel. Grant its present poor 
condition, its streams dried up, its tillage neglected, its 
statuesque scenery unsubdued by the mellowed and soft- 
ening influences of a moist atmosphere, its roads rough, 
its hills bare, and its limestone rocks unprotected by soil, 
its villages wretched hovels, its towns extinct, its pea- 
santry slaves or robbers. What then ? 

Is there no poetry in this desolation which, if it does 
not represent the past, is yet the picture which flashed 
before the spiritual eye of the mourning prophets ? Is 
there no poetry, either, in the harmony between the rocky 
sternness of the land and the men of moral thews and 
sinews which it produced ; or in the contrast between its 
nothingness as a land of physical greatness and glory, and 
the greatness and glory of the persons and events which 
were cradled in its little Wadies and on its small rocky 
eminences ? 

Is there no poetry, nothing affecting to the imagination, 
in the physical structure of a country which is without a 
parallel on earth ? For within a space so small that the 
eye can take it in from more than one point, there are 
heights, like Hermon, covered with eternal snow, and 
depths, like the Jordan valley, with a heat exceeding that 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL. 101 

of the tropics ; there is on one side the sea, and on the 
other a lake whose surface is 1300 feet lower down, with 
soundings as deep again. 

Where is there such a river as the Jordan, whose tur- 
bulent waters never gladdened a human habitation, nor 
ever irrigated a green field, — which pursues its continuous 
course for 200 miles within a space easily visible, and 
ends at last in the sea of death never to reappear ? Where 
on earth is there such a variety of vegetation, from the 
palm on the sultry plain to the lichen beside the 
glacier? — where such howling wildernesses, such dreary 
and utterly desolate wastes, with such luxuriant plains, 
fertile valleys, pasture lands, vineyards, and corn-fields ? 
— where such a climate varying through every degree of 
temperature and of moisture ? 

Of a truth the beautiful is not necessarily associated 
with what stirs the human mind to wonder and admi- 
ration. Who thinks of the beautiful when visiting a 
churchyard, where the great and good lie interred ; or a 
battle-field, where courage and self-sacrifice have won 
the liberties of the world ; or a spot like the bare rough 
rock of the Areopagus, on which stood the lowly, un- 
known, despised Jew revealing truths to Athens such as 
Plato the spiritual and Socrates the God-fearing had never 
discovered ? Or who thinks of the beautiful in thinking 
about Paul himself, " whose bodily presence was weak," 
although he was the greatest man, as a teacher, that ever 
lived ? 

Not for one moment then did I feel disappointed with 



102 



FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



Palestine. It was the greatest poem I ever read, full of 
tragic grandeur and sweetest hymns. I did not look for 
beauty, and therefore was not surprised at its absence ; 
but I did look for the battle-scenes — for the Marathon 
and Thermopylae — of the world's civilisation, and for the 
earthly stage on which real men of flesh and blood, but 
full of the spirit of the living God, played out their grand 
parts, and sung their immortal songs, which have revolu- 
tionised the world, and I found it no other than I looked 
for, to my ceaseless joy and thanksgiving. 

But let us once more attend to the details of the land- 
scape. 

Look with me towards the west. Our faces are towards 
the ''great sea," which stretches as an immense blue 
plain, ending in the horizon, or rather in a drapery of 
luminous cloud no one can exactly say where. The shore 
you see is a straight line running north and south ; and 
we can distinguish at this distance off, say twenty miles, 
the long sandy downs that separate the blue sea from the 
green sea of plain. Look southward along the shore — 
we see the place of Askelon, the site of Ashdod ; Tell, 
Eamleh, Ekron. We are already acquainted with Eamleh 
and Lydda, so distinctly seen beneath us on the plain. 
Beyond them is Jaffa, our old friend, like a grey turban on 
its hill. Xow, carrying the eye along the sea from Jaffa 
northward, you perceive a headland — that is Carmel ! 

Xow let us turn in the opposite direction, from the sea 
to the west, with the range of Moab along the sky-line 
opposite to us, and the table-land of Judaea, a few miles 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL. 108 

broad, at our feet. Looking southward, we see the un- 
dulating hills around Bethlehem, Jebel Fureidis, where 
Herod lies buried ; nearer, but in the same direction, and 
about six miles off, are Jerusalem and Olivet ; right under 
us, the eye slowly passing northward, we see the conical 
hill of Gibeah of Saul ; onwards to the north, on our left 




JERUSALEM FROM THE DISTANT APPROACH. 



is the country round Bethel, with El-ram, Geba, and 
Micmash : while further beyond, the mountains of Eph- 
raim. Beside us is Gibeon, and the scene of the great 
battle of Beth-horon. 

Again, as we look down on the maritime plain, we see 
Azotus (Ashdod), where Philip was found, and follow 
his track along the sea-shore as he passed northward to 



104 



FR01I JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



Caesarea. In Ashdod and Ekron, both visible, abode the 
ark of God for seven months. We see Lydda, where Peter 
healed Eneas ; Joppa, from which they sent for him when 
Dorcas died, and from which he afterwards journeyed to 
meet Cornelius, also at Caesarea. Here we trace for the 
first time the footsteps of St. Paul, for down this path by 
the Beth-horons he probably descended twice from Jeru 
salem to Caesarea — in both cases to save his life. 

Standing here, we understand also the great battle 
which Joshua waged against the petty, yet, in their own 
place, and amongst their own numerous tribes, powerful 
chiefs of the heathen people of the land. For at our feet 
is the hill on which the village of El- Jib is now built, but 
which, as I have said, represents the old city of Gibeon, 
the capital of a numerous though not very valiant clan, 
and which commanded this great pass from the plain to 
the Jordan. 

From this spot went those cunning diplomatists, the 
Gibeonites, to deceive Joshua, then want of truth all the 
while arising from a practical faith in Joshua as a great 
general and a veritable conqueror of the land. And out 
of those as yet to us unseen depths which plunge from the 
table-land of Judaea towards the Jordan, Joshua and his 
host made that wonderful march by night up 3,000 feet 
and for about twenty miles, until he reached Gibeon, his 
army in the morning rising like the sudden flood of a 
stormy sea, column after column pouring over the ridge 
into the upland plain round El-Jib, on which the heathen 
host were encamped, then dashing among them, and 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL. 107 

sweeping them over the western ridge down the wild 
steeps that lead to the Philistian plain. The battle-field 
explained the battle. The rout must have been terrible ! 

I have visited many battle-fields, but except those 
where Suwarrow fought in the High Alps, or those in the 
Pyrenees where Wellington defeated Soult, I never saw 
any so wild as this. From the dip of the strata, rocks 
clothe the sides of the hills like the scales of a huge 
monster, overlapping each other, yet leaving deep inter- 
stices between. Steep gorges and narrow valleys cleave 
the hills as with deep gashes on every side of the road. 
After riding up the ascent to the plain of Gibeon, we 
understood how a demoralised army would in flight 
become utterly powerless, and, if panic-stricken, be hurled 
over each succeeding range of rocks. 

Down beneath us was a green bay running from Phi- 
listia into the bosom of the hills. It was Ajalon! The 
Arabs call it Yalo. 

But it is time to withdraw our gaze from the distant 
landscape, and our thoughts from what it suggests, and 
come back once more to Neby Samwil. The spot itself 
calls up many memories of the past. Here, probably, 
was the famous "High Place" of Gibeon, where the 
tabernacle constructed by Moses, and which had been the 
moveable temple throughout the wilderness journey, was 
pitched after many wanderings, and stood until Solomon's 
Temple was built at Jerusalem. Here, too, public worship 
was conducted, by a staff of priests appointed by David, 
around the brazen altar of Moses. 



108 



FBOM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM. 



It was also the scene of one of the most imposing 
pageants ever witnessed in Judaea, when Solomon, with 
all that show, splendour, and magnificence which are 
associated with his name, " went to Gibeon to sacrifice 
there ; for that was the great high place ; a thousand 
burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar." 
Here, too, li in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a 
dream by night ; and God said unto him, Ask what I 
shall give thee ? " and he asked wisdom, and got it. 

I left the top of Neby Samwil with devoutest thanks- 
giving, feeling that, if I saw no more, but were obliged to 
return next day to Europe, my journey would have been 
well repaid. 

As the sun set, we descended the steep and rugged hill 
to our tents. We fully enjoyed the comfort and repose 
which they afforded. Xubi was busy with the dinner ; 
Meeki was enjoying his nargile ; while, all around, were 
kneeling camels, belonging to some travelling Arabs, 
chewing their evening meal of chopped straw, in which 
the horses and mules of cur cavalcade heartily joined 
them. "With one stride came the dark'* — yet a dark 
illumined by those clear stars which we never grew weary 
of looking at in this glorious sky. 

By-and-by the chatter of the Arabs from Gibeon grew 
less, and the crowd dispersed. Even Meeki seemed to 
be dozing. The camel-drivers wrapped themselves in 
their cloaks, and lay curled up on the ground, like brown 
snails, beside their meek-eyed beasts. The quadrupeds, 
too, after paying off a few private grievances with sundry 



ON THE HEIGHTS OF NEBY SAMWIL. 



109 



kicks and sharp cries, sank into silence : at least I sup- 
posed they did so, for I, with my companions, soon fell 
into deep sleep on ground where Hivite and Perizzite had 
slept before me, and which had thundered to their tread 
as they rushed along before the storm of Joshua's fierce 
attack. 

Next morning, before noon, we descended to the table- 
land of Judah and entered upon a broad, rough, stony path 
— the great northern road from Jerusalem to Galilee. We 
knew now that we were, for the first time, on the highway 
along which priests and kings, prophets and apostles, the 
holy men of old, and the One above all, had passed to and 
fro. We slowly came nearer Jerusalem. We passed over 
a grey ridge, like a roll of a sea wave, and saw the Damas- 
cus Gate before us. We turned down to the left, towards 
the north-east corner of the wall, and got among Mo- 
hametan tombs, which for some reason or other were 
being visited by a number of women draped and veiled in 
white. We descended a hundred yards or so until we 
reached the road that passes from Anathoth to the city ; 
travelled along it, with the Kedron valley to our left, and 
Olivet rising beyond — the city wall crowning the slope 
to our right — and then rode up to St. Stephen's Gate, 
entered it, took off our hats as we passed the portal, but 
spoke not a word, for we had entered Jerusalem ! 



THE HOLY CITY. 



THE HOLY CITY. 



CHAPTER YIII. 

PAST AND PRESENT. 

T REMEMBER a lady, whose mind was engrossed with 
J- the question of the return of the Jews to Palestine, 
being dreadfully shocked by a religious and highly respect- 
able man, who presumed to express the opinion in her 
hearing, that the time was not far distant when there might 
be a railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and the cry be heard 
from an English voice of " Bethlehem Station! " The 
fair friend of Israel thereupon drew herself up indig- 
nantly and exclaimed, " Pray, sir, don't be profane ! " 

Again, a relative of mine who visited Jerusalem a few 
years ago, met there a sea-captain and his wife. The 
vessel, a collier from Newcastle, which the former com- 
manded, or possibly the latter, from her manifest in- 
fluence over her husband, had taken refuge at Jaffa, and 

i 



114 



THE HOLY CITY. 



the captain had been induced by his lady to go np to 
Jerusalem to see the sights. My friend one day noticed 
a serious controversy going on, in low whispers, between 
the worthy pair, and thinking they had got into some 
perplexity from which he might be able to relieve them, 
he meekly offered his services. " Thank you, sir, most 
kindly," said the lady. " But I am really provoked with 
the captain ; for he is, I am ashamed to say, sir, quite an 
unbeliever." 

" Humbug, my clear ! " interrupted the captain. 

"Xo humbug at all, sir," replied his mate, addressing 
my friend, " but wery expensive unbelief too, I do assure 
you ; for what is the use, I'd like to know, of one's pay- 
ing a guide for showing you all them famous places if 
cue does not, like the captain, believe what the guide 
says ? " 

" Easy, my dear," protested the honest sailor, laying 
his hand quietly on his wife's arm : "I knows and be- 
lieves as well as you do the Scripturs, and knows that 
all them places are in the Bible ; but don't let any of 
them guides come it over me so strong with their lies, 
and tell me that that hill is the Mount of Holives, and 
that other place the Holy Sepulchre, and Calvary, and 
all that sort of thing. I won't believe them Jews : I 
knows them far too well; you don't!" Whether the 
captain was ever able to square the actual Jerusalem 
with his ideal one, I know not. 

Now these stories, literally true, only illustrate in a 
ludicrous form the fact, that many people have, like the 



PAST AND PKESENT. 



115 



captain, a Jerusalem of their own — full of the beautiful, 
the sacred, the holy, and the good — but which is not 
like the real Jerusalem. Hence, when they visit Jeru- 
salem, they are terribly disappointed ; or when any 
traveller who has done so describes it as he would any 
other city, and admits that he has felt some of the 
lighter and more ordinary emotions of humanity in it, it 
looks to them almost like profanity, or what some people 
call, with equal wisdom, " irreverence." 

But, after all, there needs no effort to " get up" 
feeling in Jerusalem. It has no doubt its commonplace, 
prosaic features, more so indeed than most cities of 
the Eastern world ; but it has its glory, its waking- 
dreams, its power over the imagination and the whole 
spirit, such as no city on earth ever had, or can have. 
Therefore I shall tell what I saw and felt in Jerusalem, 
how sun and shade alternated there, how smile and tear 
came and went in it, just as I would when speaking of 
any other spot on this material earth. 

Yet I entered Jerusalem with neither smile nor tear, 
but with something between the two ; for I had no 
sooner doffed my tabousch in reverence as I passed 
through St. Stephen's Gate and experienced that queer 
feeling about the throat which makes one cough, and 
dims the eyes with old-fashioned tears, than my horse — 
very probably owing to my want of clear vision — began 
to slide and skate and stumble over the hard, round, 
polished stones which pave or spoil the road. I heard 
some of my companions saying, i i Look at the Pool of 



116 



THE HOLY CITY. 



Betkesda ! See the green grass of the Temple Area ! 
We are going to enter the Via Dolorosa ! " but how 
could I take in the full meaning of the words, when 
with each announcement a fore-leg or a hind-leg of my 
horse went off in a slide or drew back with a shudder, 
and w T hen the horrors of broken bones became so present 




st. Stephen's gate. 



as for a moment to exclude all other thoughts? " Such 
is life," as the saying is. And such were the prosaic 
circumstances of my entrance into Jerusalem. I tried, 
however, to make them more harmonious with my body 
and mind, by descending from my horse, handing him to 
Meeki, wiping my brow, and begging my informant to 



PAST AND PEE SENT. 117 

repeat some of his information, while I sat on a portion 
of an old wall to listen. 

Within a few yards of the gate of St. Stephen, by 
which we entered, there was a large square space, into 
which we looked. It is a large tank, about 365 feet 
long, 30 broad, and 50 deep, with high enclosing walls., 




POOL OF BETHESDA. 



and is called the Pool of Bethesda. The bottom is earth 
and rubbish ; but the ledge is sufficient, along its 
northern slope, to afford room for a half-naked Arab 
to plough it with a scraggy ass. Its porches and every- 
thing like ornament are gone, and nothing remains save 
the rough walls of this great bath. 



118 



THE HOLY CITY. 



Turning the eyes to the left, you see, about fifty yards 
off along the city wall, southward, a narrow gateway 
opening into the bright green grass, looking fresh and 
cool. That is one of the entrances into the wide, open 
space where once stood the temple. But we dare not 
enter into it at present, for it is holy ground, and we 
must get a letter from the Pasha, and pay him a good 
backsheesh to secularize the spot sufficiently to admit us. 
We shall pay for the privilege, and visit it by-and-by. 
In the meantime let us walk to the hotel. Our path is 
along the so-called " Via Dolorosa." This is a narrow 
street, roughly paved, and hemmed in with ruined walls 
sadly wanting in mortar. In some parts there are arches 
overhead, and many delightful studies of old houses and 
ancient mason work, which, by the way, a young lady 
was sketching as we passed, seated on a camp stool, 
with a white umbrella over her head. How one's 
thoughts went home to the happy English fireside, with 
paterfamilias, and brothers and sisters, looking over her 
drawings ! 

One repeats to himself as he goes along this street, 
"The Yia Dolorosa!" — words so full of meaning, but 
which the street does not help to interpret ; unless from 
its being, as seen " in the light of common day," a 
tumble-down, poverty-stricken, back lane, without any- 
thing which the eye can catch in harmony with the past. 

Was this the real, " Yia Dolorosa " ? But we must not 
begin with our scepticism as to places, or encourage 
those "obstinate questionings" which constantly suggest 



YIA DOLOROSA. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



121 



themselves in Jerusalem. The silence of authentic history 
is made up for, no doubt, by supplying, out of an inex- 
haustible store of traditions, a guide to pilgrims, which 
enables them to see such holy places as the following :- — 
" The window in the ' Arch of Ecce Homo,' from which 
Pilate addressed the people," — " the place where Pilate 
declared his innocence," — " where Jesus stood as He 
addressed him," — " where Mary stood near Him as He 
spoke," — the several places " where Jesus fell down 
under the weight of the cross," — the spot " where 
Simon had the cross laid upon him," &c, &c. All Jeru- 
salem is thus dotted with fictitious places, in memoriam, 
to excite the devotion of the faithful. To their eye " of 
faith" the Yia Dolorosa is necessarily a very different 
street from what it can possibly be to us whose " faith in 
these traditions " is not so great. 

After leaving the Yia Dolorosa we passed through the 
bazaar, but it is poor, squalid, and unworthy of any par- 
ticular notice, after those of Cairo, or even Alexandria. 
There was the usual narrow path between the little dens 
called shops, with the accustomed turbans presiding over 
the usual wares — shoes, seeds, pipes, clothes, tobacco, 
hardware, cutlery, &c, while crowds moved to and fro 
wearing every shade of coloured clothes, and composed 
of every kind of out-of-the-way people, Jews, Turks, 
Greeks, Bedowin, with horses, asses, camels, all in a 
state of excitement. 

We then went to an hotel to call for a friend. How 
shall I describe these so-called hotels ? I cannot indeed 



122 



THE HOLY CITY. 



now separate in memory one hotel from the other — and 
there are but three in Jerusalem. They are, however, 
wonderfully confused and picturesque, with their rooms, 
corners, passages, outside stories from floor to floor, 
giving endless peeps of open sky, with balconies and flat 
roofs, all huddled together like a number of hat-cases, or 
bandboxes, and approached, not as in other countries 
by an imposing door, over which hangs an enormous 
gilt sign of the Golden Bull, or Spread Eagle, or by an 
open court, beyond which drays, gigs, and carriages are 
seen, but by a steep, narrow trap stair, which ascends 
from a door in the street, but which is more a slit in the 
wall than a door, and might conduct from a condemned 
cell to the gallows. 

This sort of architecture is very characteristic of a 
country where, at a moment's notice, or without it, the 
orthodox descendants of the Prophet might take it into 
'their turbaned heads to gain heaven by attacking the 
hotel, under the influence of some fanatical furor. " There 
is no saying ! " as the cautious and timid affirm when 
they expect some mysterious doing. And thus the steep 
stair rising from the narrow door would serve as a 
mountain pass for the defenders of the hotel ; while the 
more extended battle-field of the open spaces above, 
overlooked by upper stories like overhanging precipices, 
would become strategic points of immense importance. 

The " travellers' room " in this hotel is not unlike what 
one finds in small country inns in Britain. The back 
windows are in a wall which forms one of the sides of 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



125 



the "Pool of Hezekiah!" — so-called. There the old 
reservoir lay, immediately beneath us, with its other sides 
formed by walls of houses, their small windows looking 
into it just as the one which I gazed through did. It was 
an odd association, when one withdrew his head and 
surveyed the room, to see placards on the wall advertis- 
ing "Bass" and " Allsopp." No wonder the captain 
was sceptical as to his being in the Holy City of his early 
associations ! 

My first desire on entering the hotel was to ascend to 
the uppermost roof to obtain a glimpse of the city. I 
was enabled to gratify my wishes, and to see over a con- 
fusion of flat and domed buildings, pleasantly relieved 
here and there by green grass and trees. The elegant 
" Dome of the Kock" rose over them all, while above and 
beyond it was the grey and green Mount of Olives, dotted 
with trees. To take in this view at first was impossible. 
One repeated to himself, as if to drive the fact into his 
brain, or as if addressing a person asleep or half idiotic, 
"That is the Mount of Olives! that is the Mount of 
Olives ! " 

Before going to our own " khan," we went to the post- 
office, for letters from home. It was an odd sort of 
cabin, and was reached by a flight of outside stairs rising 
from the street leading to the Jaffa Gate. 

Letters read, and good news received by all, we went 
to our hotel, which from a small board a foot or so long, 
nailed over the narrow door, we discovered to be " The 
Damascus." Hadji Ali had procured for us three rooms 



126 



THE HOLY CITY. 



on the first landing, which opened on a paved court 
whose roof was the glorious sky. The rooms were 
vaulted, clean, and comfortable, and not intolerably 
muggy. The beds had mosquito curtains, and the floors 
were flagged. The supply of water from a pump near 
our doors was unlimited. 

Our retainers had a space allotted to themselves, where 
they squatted like gipsies, cooked for us in the open air, 
and lived very much as they would have done in the 
desert. Meeki and his muleteers were the only absentees, 
and where they lived I know not. Very probably it was 
in the stables with their horses and asses, whose sleep 
they would no doubt disturb. Hadji and his coadjutors, 
Nnbi the waiter, and Mohammed the cook, took the sole 
charge of us while in this domicile ; so that I do not know 
whether there were any persons in the hotel in the capacity 
of host or waiters. 

There were among its inhabitants an English party. 
They were housed in places reached by outside stairs, 
somewhere among the highest roofs of the many-roofed 
building. On the evening of our arrival, I climbed over 
their apartments, ascending to the highest point by a 
ladder, and from thence I again saw Olivet, just as the 
last rays of the sun were colouring it with a golden hue, 
and making the Dome of the Eock sparkle with touches 
of brilliant light. And from the same spot I saw it 
immediately before sunrise next morning, when the silence 
of the city, and the freshness of the air, and the shadows 
cast from the hill, gave it a quite different, but equally 



PAST AND PKESENT. 



127 



fascinating aspect. And thus slowly, but very surely, 
I began to feel that this was indeed the real Mount of 
Olives ! 

Never did I retire to rest with deeper thanksgiving 
than on my first night in Jerusalem. Ever and anon as 
the mind woke up, while the body gradually sank into 
repose, the thought, " I am in Jerusalem ! " more and 
more inspired me with a grateful sense of God's goodness 
and mercy in having enabled me to enter it. 

Before saying anything of next day's visits, I must 
declare that I abjure all discussions, with a few exceptions 
afterwards to be noticed, as to the antiquities of Jerusa- 
lem. Finding my time short, and impressed with the 
impossibility of forming a sounder opinion on controverted 
questions in Jerusalem than in my own room at home, I 
vowed to separate myself from any of the party who 
mentioned "the tower Hippicus " — one of the bones, a 
sort of hip-joint, of great importance and of great conten- 
tion, in the re-construction of the old skeleton. I pre- 
ferred to receive, if possible, some of the living impres- 
sions which the place was fitted to impart, to get, if 
possible, a good fresh whiff from the past — an aroma, if 
not from Jerusalem yet from nature, unchangeable in her 
general features, as revealed on the slopes and in the 
valleys of Olivet, or in the silent recesses round Bethany. 
I succeeded in doing so, at least to my own satisfaction, 
from the moment I cut the tower Hippicus. 

But one thing is clear. "Within the walls — if we except 
perhaps the Temple Area, that one grand spot of surpass* 



128 



THE HOLY CITY, 



ing interest in Jerusalem — there is not a street which 
either the Saviour or his Apostles ever trod. The present 
roadways, if they even follow the old lines, are above the 
rubbish which " many a fathom deep " covers the ancient 
causeway. There is not one house standing on which we 
can feel certain that our Lord ever gazed, unless it be 
the old tower at the Jaffa Gate (see p. 171). So let us, 
for the present, dismiss every attempt to associate that 
past with " the Jerusalem which now is." We may feel 
disappointed at this, yet I believe that it must be so. 
The heavens above and the hills around, not the streets 
beneath, are the same. It is modern Jerusalem, then, 
which in the meantime we must glance at ; and the first 
place which naturally attracts us is the Church of the 
so-called " Holy Sepulchre,," 



THE HOLY CITY. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 

ARRIVED at the church, we enter an inner court by a. 
narrow doorway. Squatted on every side are rows 
of Easterns, who are selling, with well-defined profit-and- 
loss countenances, all the accompaniments of " religious'* 
worship — beads, incense, crucifixes, pilgrim shells, staves^ 
&c. &c. ; while a ceaseless crowd from all lands is passing 
to and fro. 

Now we must understand, first of all, that this church 
is a very large one, so that under the one roof are several 
chapels in which different ' ' communions " worship. These 
do not of course call themselves " sects," for that would 
look as if the one true Apostolic Church could be divided, 
Each church only calls every other a sect. But while 
there is one true Apostolic, Catholic Church, as distinct 

K 



ISO 



THE HOLY CUT. 



from the sadly divided Protestant churches, yet a Pro- 
re strait may be pardoned if he does not at once discover 
the fact vrhen he enters the building. The Greek 
Church. "Catholic and Apostolic," representing, as it 
does, some eighty millions of the human race, has its 
chapel, adorned with barbaric splendour, in the centre, 
where it claims the sole privilege and honour of receiving 
once a year from Heaven, and of transmitting to the 
faithful — that is. to the Greeks — miraculous fire repre- 
senting the Holy Spirit. The Latins, as they are called 
in the East, the Catholics, as they call themselves, or the 
Papists, as some presume to call them, also have a chapel 
and service, and loudly profess a very supreme contempt 
for the Greeks and then- base superstitions. The Copts 
and Armenians, as members of the one undivided Church, 
have also their chapel, whose capacity bears a relative 
proportion to the numbers of then' followers. There is 
only sufficient space for the worship of those who posses 
it. Sometimes, for want of room, a stand-up fight takes 
place, and at the famous Easter right in the church, some 
thirty years ago, four hundred lives were lost ! 

Within this famous church, there are certain places and 
things shewn, ab:ut whose authenticity all those witnesses 
for Catholic truth :cem agreed. These are ail connected 
with the last memorable scenes in the life and death of 
Him "who was the Truth." At the entrance of the 
c Lurch , for example, : : s a broad marble slab, where He 
was anointed for His burial. The Duke of Modena was 
kneeling and reverently kissing it as we went in. Close 



THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE* 183 

on the left is the spot " where Mary stood while the body 
was anointing;" and then upstairs and downstairs, in 
nooks and corners, amidst the blaze of lamps and the 
perfume of incense, here, and there, and everywhere, are 
other noteworthy places, such as " where Christ appeared 
to Mary Magdalene as the gardener ; " and " to his mother 
after the resurrection;" and ' 1 where his garments were 
parted ;" and " where He was mocked ;" " where He was 
bound;" where " His friends stood afar off during the 
crucifixion;" " the prison where He was detained while 
waiting for the crucifixion;" " the holes in which the 
three crosses were inserted ; " the very " rent made in the 
rock by the earthquake ; " and " the place where the three 
real crosses were found " three hundred years afterwards, 
the true cross being discovered, as it is said, by its work- 
ing a miracle. These " sacred spots" are marked by 
altars, crosses, &c. There are also to be'sesn in this mar- 
vellous museum the actual tombs of Adam (Eve unknown) 
and of Melchizedek, and of John the Baptist, and of 
Joseph of Arimathea ; finally, of our Lord. All these 
are palpable lies which we are asked to accept, and this 
too beside what they believe to be the tomb of Jesus and 
the place of His crucifixion ! 

The Holy Sepulchre is not what many people suppose 
it to be. It is not a cave, nor a hole in a rude rock ; but 
a small marble chapel, which rises up from the flat stone 
floor. The theory of this sort of sepulchre is, that the mass 
of the rock out of which it was orginally hewn has been all 
cut away from around the mere slab on which our Lord's 



131 



THE HOLY CITY. 



body lay, leaving the slab or loculus only, and a thin 
port-ion of the original rock to which it adheres ; just as 
we see a pillar of earth rise out of a flat in a railway 
cutting, marking where the original mass, of which it had 
formed a part, had been. 

In its present state, therefore, nothing can be more 
unlike a sepulchre than this. Not one atom of the 
original rock — if it is there at all, which is doubtful — is 
visible, all being cased in marble. What a miserable 
desecration of the original cave (if it ever existed here) ! 
What are we to think of the taste, or judgment, of those 
who dared to apply hammer or chisel to the holy spot ? 
It might with almost equal propriety be transported now 
to be exhibited in Paris, London, or Xew York. There 
is not a trace existing of its original appearance. 

This chapel of " the Holy Sepulchre " consists of two 
small apartments, neither of which could hold above half- 
a-dozen persons. The whole chapel is but twenty-six 
feet long and eighteen broad. The first small closet, 
which is entered between gigantic candlesticks, is called 
the Chapel of the Angel, as being the place where it is 
alleged the angel rolled away the stone, a fragment of 
which is pointed out. 

Within this, entered by a narrow low door, is the 
sepulchre. It is seven feet long and nine broad. The 
roof is a small dome supported by marble pillars. The 
marble slab, which, it is said, covers the place where our 
Lord's body lay, occupies the space to the right of the 
door as you enter. Over it are placed a few most paltry 



THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPCLCHEE. 



135 



artificial flowers in pots, with some miserable engravings 
and votive offerings. Several small candles are always 
burning. The sale of these candles must yield a consider- 
able revenue to the Church, for every pilgrim offers one, 
so that tens of thousands must each year be used and 
paid for. In addition to these candles, an immense 
number of gold and silver lamps — forty, I believe — are 
kept burning inside this small vault. 

I went on two occasions into the "Holy Sepulchre*" 
On the second, I remained in silence beside the attending 
priest for about a quarter of an hour, and was deeply 
interested in the pilgrims, who entered in a ceaseless 
stream to do homage to the sacred spot. They came 
in, knelt, kissed the stone, prayed for a second, pre- 
sented their candle, and retired to make way for others. 
It was impossible not to be affected by so unparalleled 
a spectacle. These pilgrims had come from almost 
every part of Europe, at least. Greeks from the islands 
and shores of the Levant ; Eussians from the far-oil 
steppes of Tartary, clothed in their sheep-skin dresses ; 
French, Italians, Germans, and Portuguese, of every age 
and complexion ; old men with white beards, tottering 
on their pilgrim-staves ; friars and monks, with such a 
variety of costume and of remarkable physiognomy as 
could nowhere else be seen ; — faces stranger than ever 
crossed the imagination — some men that might have sat 
to an artist as his beau ideal of cut-throat pirates, and 
others who might have represented patriarchs or pro- 
phets ; some women who were types of Martha or Mary, 



136 



THE HOLY CITY. 



others of the "Witch of Endor. The expression of most 
was that of stolid ignorance and superstition, as if they 
were performing a mysterious, sacred duty: but of others 
it was that of enthusiastic devotion. 

I shall never forget one woman who kissed the stone 
again and again, pressing her lips to it, as if it were the 
dead face of her first-born. It was a touch of nature 
which made one's eyes fill, and was the most beautiful 
thing I saw in the church, except a fair child with 
lustrous eyes, who, indifferent to the grand spectacle 
of bishops and priests, was gazing at the light as it 
streamed through the coloured glass of one of the old 
windows. 

It was strange to think of those people who had come 
such distances to this one spot. How many had been 
hoarding their little fractions for years to defray the 
expense of the long journey, how long they had planned 
it, how far they had travelled to accomplish it, — that 
old Kussian, for example, with his big boots and hairy 
cap ! What a thing this will be to them, when they go 
out of that door, and begin the journey homeward, — to 
tell all they saw, and to comfort themselves in life and 
death by the thought of their having made the pilgrimage 
and kissed the shrine ! 

And stranger far to think of how this stream of super- 
stition, custom, divine love, or call it what we may, 
poured on through that door for centuries before America 
was discovered, or the Reformation dreamt of. All 
thoughts of the more distant past were lost to me in the 



THE CHUKCH OF THE HOLT SEPULCHRE. 137 

remembrance of the Crusades, and of old romantic ballads 
about the mailed men, the lords of many a ruined keep, 
from the banks of the Scottish Tweed to the castellated 
Rhine, whose silent effigies in stone, with hands clasped 
in prayer, have reposed for ages in gorgeous cathedrals, 
rural parish churches, and far-away chapels on distant 
islands. My mind was filled with stories that told of 
how they came to visit this spot, how they parted from 
their lady loves, and travelled over unknown lands, en- 
countering strange adventures, and voyaging over un- 
known seas in strange vessels, with stranger crews ; how 
they charged the Saracens in bloody battles, shouting 
their war-cries, and at last reached — one in a hundred 
perhaps — this spot so full to them of mystery and awe, 
here to kneel and pray as the great object and reward of 
all their sacrifices. 

Historically I must confess that I had no faith what- 
ever in this being the true sepulchre. Had I thought so 
it would only have filled me with pain and with a deeper 
longing to be able to lift those pilgrims up from the 
shadow to the substance, to remind them with the voice 
of a brother, " He is not here, but is risen," even while 
inviting them to "come and see the place where the Lord 
lay." Nor did I feel disposed to attach much moral 
blame to those who had long ago introduced this super- 
stition. It is easy to realise the temptation, when teaching 
the ignorant masses and attempting to interest them in an 
unseen Christ and in spiritual worships, to supply them 
with a visible and sensuous religion of symbolism and relic? 



133 



THE HOLY CITY. 



as a substitute for the reality, which it is assumed is too 
ethereal for ordinary men to sympathise with. We know 
how all such human plans utterly fail. But perhaps we 
know this more from observing their actual results in 
Eoman Catholic countries than from any wisdom of our 
own. I do not therefore wonder so much at the original 
experiment, which was natural at least, as at the obstinate 
keeping up of it now that it has been found to sensualise 
instead of spiritualise the mind. But the presence of so 
much superstition filled me with unutterable pain. And 
perhaps the more so that it has been too long upheld to 
be now easily abolished, lest in shaking the faith of the 
masses in this foolish dream we might shake their faith 
in the glorious reality. My displeasure at the spectacle 
may be thought by some to indicate " irreverence," but 
true reverence results from a sense of God's presence, 
and is a consequent worshipping of Him in spirit and in 
truth, and the scenes at the Holy Sepulchre did not 
impress me with its existence there. 




THE HOLY CITY. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE TEMPLE AREA. 

TT is but as yesterday — immediately after the Crimean 
War — that this sacred enclosure could be entered by 
any except Moslems, or those who cared to pass them- 
selves off as Moslems at the risk of their lives. All, with- 
out respect of persons, but not without respect of purse, 
can enter it now. There must no doubt be a few forms 
gone through, but these your dragoman manages ; and 
they are not more serious than what travellers are fami- 
liar with in most European cities, when " orders " have 
to be obtained, and signed and countersigned by heads of 
Police or of Government, while the " guide " or " com- 
missionnaire " magnifies the difficulty of getting them,, 
the secret in every case, East and West, being the old 
golden key — backsheesh 



140 



THE HOLY CITY. 



To see the Temple Area the backsheesh is pretty heavy, 
amounting, as far as I can recollect, though I am not 
certain, to about £1 for each traveller. But never was 
money paid with more good-will than that which ad- 
mitted us to the most memorable spot on the face of the 
whole earth. 




SOUTH WALL OF TEMPLE AIIEA. 



The general shape of the Haram, or Temple Area, is 
nearly a parallelogram, its greatest length being 1,500 feet 
—rather more than a quarter of a mile— and its greatest 
breadth about 1,000. It is surrounded on all sides by 



THE TEMPLE AKEA. 



141 



walls ; some of them to the north and west serving also 
as walls of houses, which belong chiefly to civil or eccle- 
siastical officials. The east and south walls are also a 
part now of the city walls. Only a comparatively small 



o 




MOSQUE IN TEMPLE AREA. 



portion of this great open space is occupied by buildings. 
About the centre is the Mosque el Sakrah (or "Dome of 
the Bock "), and at the south end the Mosque el Aksah. 

The first thing that strikes one on entering this sacred 
spot is its profound repose. It is for the most part 



142 



THE HOLY CITY. 



covered with grass, which is green and beautiful, even at 
this early season of the year. Various kinds of trees, 
chiefly the dark, tall cypress, are scattered through it. 
Oriental figures float about with noiseless tread. No sound 
of busy traffic from the city breaks the silence. All is 
quiet as if in the heart of the desert. The spot seems 
consecrated to meditation and prayer. 




SOUTH ENTRANCE HALL TO TLXPLE AREA. 



Most probably the first questions vrhich my readers 
will ask are these. What of the old Temple ? Can its 
site be determined ? Are there any traces of it ? Now 
there is no question whatever as to the Temple having 
been built somewhere within this space called the 
^ Haram." 

There are also some very old remains which were, no 
doubt, connected with the Temple. There is a noble 



THE TEMPLE AREA. 



143 



gateway in the south wall — itself an old boundary of 
the Temple, and having cyclopean stones in it — which 
is described by Josephus. To see it one has to enter it 
from within the Haram, as the gateway is built up from 




CHAMBERS FOR, KEEPING THE CATTLE. 



without. There is no monument of antiquity in Jeru- 
salem so interesting as this. We have an entrance-hall 
about 50 feet long and 40 wide, and in the centre a 
column of a single block of limestone, 21 feet high and 
about 18 feet in circumferences. The sides of this hall 



144 



THE HOLY CITY. 



are built with huge stones. A flight of steps at the end 
leads to a long passage, sometimes horizontal, sometimes 
a gentle inclined plane, but extending 259 feet, and 
emerging by another flight of steps into the area above, 

There are also remarkable arches at the south-east 
corner, forming underground structures with high and 
airy chambers, admirably adapted for keeping the cattle 
required for the Temple service. 

There are also, inside of the area, underground cisterns 
filled from natural springs, which no doubt supplied the 
Temple with the water that was constantly required in its 
services. These cisterns are now got at by an opening 
like a well or chimney near the Mosque el Askah. 

Such are some of the traces left of the ancient building, 
and as I walked across this green spot once occupied by 
G-od's Holy Temple, I cried — " Oh for a voice to utter 
the thoughts that arise in me ! " For who can adequately 
express the thoughts which here rush upon the mind, 
wave upon wave in rapid and tumultuous succession, out 
of the vast and apparently limitless ocean of past history ? 
Here, in this remote corner of the earth, and in a seques- 
tered spot among the lonely hills, shepherd clans for 
centuries worshipped Him whom the great nations of the 
earth still worship as the " God of Abraham, of Isaac, 
and of Jacob." 

This spot of verdure is the narrow strait through which, 
ages ago, the living stream passed which is now flooding 
the whole earth. If we ask how this enduring worship 
came to be established, our inquiry receives a reply from 



THE TEMPLE AREA. 



145 



the Books of Moses, in which its origin and establishment 
are recorded. 

From the day in which the old " Tabernacle," or Tent 
of the Wilderness, was enlarged into the grand Temple of 
Solomon, what events transacted here rise up before the 
memory ! There passes before the inner eye the august 
founding of Solomon's Temple, with its stately rites, cere- 




UNDERGROUND CISTERNS. 

monies, and solemn prayers ; — its costly sacrifices, and 
the presence within it of the mysterious Shekinah. Again, 
we see the memorable day when the Temple of Zerubbabel 
was founded, when " the priests and Levites and chief of 
the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first 
house, when the foundation of this house was laid before 
their eyes, wept with a loud voice ; and many shouted 
aloud for joy : so that the people could not discern the 

L 



148 



THE HOLY CITY. 



noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of 
the people : for the people shouted with a loud shout, and 
the noise was heard afar off." 

We see the last and greatest temple of all — that of 
Herod — of which it was said, " The glory of this latter 
house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord 
of hosts : and in this place will I give peace, saith the 
Lord of hosts," — all this passes before our minds, until 
the vision of the past is closed by the unparalleled horrors 
of the destruction of the last Temple by the Eoman 
army, leaving no trace behind except the faded sculp- 
tures of some of its holy things on the crumbling Arch of 
Titus. 

But standing here one loves to linger on earlier days, 
and to recall the holy men and women, the kings, priests, 
and prophets, who came up to this spot to pray — whose 
faith is our own, whose sayings are our guide, whose life 
is our example, and whose songs are our hymns of wor- 
ship. We seem to hear the majestic psalms of David 
which have ascended from this spot, and have never been 
silent since on earth, nor will be until they are absorbed 
in the worship of the Temple above. 

But what more than absorbs all else into itself as a 
source of reverential wonder, was the presence here, in 
his own Holy Temple, of Jesus Christ, " the desire of all 
nations." How affecting to recall his teaching, within 
this spot, his holy and awful works here done, his words 
of love and power here spoken — the incidents of his boy- 
hood, temptation, and ministry down to his last hours. 



THE MOSQUE OF OMAR. 



147 



It may be that those holy feet have trodden the steps 
of that old passage ; and His lips may have drunk from 
the waters that " made glad the city of God," and with 
reference to which He on the first day of the feast cried, 
saying, " If any man thirst, let him come to Me and 
drink, and the water which I shall give him shall be in 
him," as the water is within the Temple, "a living foun- 
tain springing up into everlasting life ! " 

But we must leave the site of the old Temple, with its 
solemn memories, and enter El Sakrah, or the "Mosque 
of Omar," which occupies nearly the centre of the great 
Haram enclosure. On entering it, one is immediately 
and irresistibly impressed by its exquisite proportions, its 
simplicity of design, and wonderful beauty. Nowhere 
have I seen stained-glass windows of such intense and 
glowing colours. Indeed one of the marked features of 
the interior is the variety and harmony of colour which 
pervade it, caused by the marbles of the pillars and wall. 
— the arabesque ornaments and Arabic inscriptions — tho 
rich drapery hanging in the sunlight — with the flickering 
touches everywhere of purple and blue and golden yellow, 
from the Eastern sun pouring its splendour through the 
gorgeous windows ; while every Oriental worshipper, as 
he bends in prayer or moves about in silence, displays 
some bright bit of dress embroidered with gold or silver 
in the looms of Damascus, or possibly of In lia, and thus 
adds to the brilliancy of the scene. 

What chiefly attracts the eye and arrests the attention, 
however, within this temple of Mahommetan worship, is 



148 



Tan HOLY CITY. 



an object which one never saw before in any such place, 
or beneath any roof, except the sky. Immediately under 
the dome, and within the circle of marble pillars which 
support it, with silk drapery overhanging it like a banner 
over the tomb of a hero, lies a huge rock ! It is not the 
work of a cunning artist, shaped to a form of beauty, or 




PLACE OF THE ROCK IX THE MOSQUE, 



to serve any useful or religious purpose, but an unhewn 
mass, rough as a boulder on a mountain-side or on the 
sea-shore. 

This stone is about sixty feet long and fifty broad, and 
rises about five feet above the level of the floor, or fifteen 
:feet above the original surface of the ground. It is but 



THE MOSQUE OF OMAR. 



149 



the highest point of the solid rock of which the whole 
area is composed, thus permitted, as it were, to project 
above the surface, and to intrude bare, unadorned, into 
the mosque. It has on the south-side an open door, cut 




CAYE IN THE ROCK. 



through the solid stone, which leads by a few steps down- 
to an excavated chamber, about eight feet high and fifteen 
feet square. Above, is a hole pierced three or four feet 
through the top of the rock, with a lamp suspended near 



150 



THE HOLY CITY. 



it. Such is the general appearance and position of this 
famous spot. I may add, that if one stamps on a circular 
marble stone about the centre of the cave, seen in the 
engraving, hollow sounds and echoes are heard beneath 
evidencing the existence of considerable underground 
excavations. 

" But what," the reader ashs, " means this rock or 
rocky summit ? Why has it been preserved, and preserved 
here as a holy and revered thing ? " 

To this question various conflicting theories might be 
brought forward as answers. That it was a draw-well 
for the fortress of Antonio ; that it was the summit of 
Mount Moriah on which Abraham offered up Isaac ; that 
it was the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite ; finally, 
that it was the " True Sepulchre of our Lord." If I might 
presume to give an opinion on the subject it would be 
briefly this : that I cannot accept of the authenticity of 
any of these proofs, and believe we must wait until 
further light is thrown on the subject. Meanwhile, the 
purpose which it originally served remains, in my opinion, 
an unsolved mystery. 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



CHAPTER XL 



JERUSALEM "WITHOUT THE WALLS. 



jNE day I visited the Jews' "wailing place," certainly 



" one of the most remarkable spots in the world. It 
extends 120 feet along the cyclopean wall which sur- 
rounded the sacred inclosure, and begins about 300 feet 
from the south-west corner. 

No familiarity with the scenes enacted at this place 
made it hackneyed to me. To see the Jews met here 
for prayer ; to see them kissing those old stones ; to 
know that this sort of devotion has probably been going 
on since the Temple was destroyed, and down through 
the teeming centuries ; to watch this continuous stream 
of sorrow, still sobbing against the old wall, filled me 
with many thoughts. What light amidst darkness, what 
darkness amidst light ; what undying hopes in the future, 




154 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



what passionate attachment to the past ; what touching 
superstition, -what belief and unbelief. 

I next strolled into the Jews' quarter on Mount Zion. 




THE JEWS' WAILING PLACE. 



It is a wretched, filthy place, squalid as the " liberties " 
of Dublin, the " slums " of London, or the " closes ; ' of 
Glasgow or Edinburgh. 

I saw one sight on Blount Zion which vividl)' recalled 



JERUSALEM WITHOUT THE WALLS. 155 

the past, and that was a band of lepers. They inhabit 
a few huts near one of the gates, and are shut off by a 
.wall with only one entrance to their wretched small 
court and mud dwellings. Ten of those miserable beings 
came out to beg from us — as they do from every one 
who is likely to give them alms. They sat afar off, with 
outstretched arms, directing attention to their sores. 
There was nothing absolutely revolting in their appear- 
ance ; but it was unutterably sad to see so many human 
beings, with all the capacities for enjoying life, thus 
separated from their kind, creeping out of their mud dens 
day by day through a long course of years to obtain aid 
to sustain their miserable existence; and then creeping 
back again, to talk, to dream, to hope. And for w 7 hat ? 

No friendly grasp from relation or friend, no kiss 
from parent or child, from husband or wife. Dying 
daily, they daily increase in misery and pain. What more 
vivid symbol of sin could have been selected than this 
disease, which destroys the whole man, from the crown 
of the head to the sole of the foot, slowly but surely 
eating his life, and which is incurable, save by the power 
of God ? May He have mercy on all such ! 

The sight of those sufferers in such a place suggested 
many a scene in Bible history, above all the compassion 
of Him who "bore our sicknesses, " and restored such 
pitiable objects to the health and joy of a new existence. 

Nor could one fail to associate the helpless condition 
of lepers with that of the people who still occupy Zion, 
whose houses are built over the dust of what was once 



156 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



their own stately palaces, and whose unbelief is now r 
as it was in the days of the prophets, like unto a deadly 
leprosy with wounds that have not yet "been closed, 
neither bound up, nor mollified with ointment." Their 
sin has been so visibly punished, that we may truly add : 
— " Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with 
fire : your land, strangers devour it in your presence, 
and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. 

And before passing beyond the walls, I would like to 
mention one remarkable feature of Jerusalem. It is its 
power, in spite of its dust and decay, to attract to itself 
so many forms of religious thought. The fire which once 
blazed in it with so pure a flame, still flickers amidst 
smoke and ashes. Moslem, Jew, and Christian, of every 
sect, reside among its ruins, or make pilgrimages of de- 
votion or of inquiry to its hallowed precincts. 
. But we must go out of the city and " view the walls 
of Jerusalem which were broken down.'' 

Among the first places I went to was the subterranean 
quarry, the entrance to which is near the Damascus 
Gate. The nature of this place will be best understood 
by supposing an immense excavation, out of which it is 
highly probable the stones were quarried to build the 
city, so that Jerusalem may be said to be reared over 
one vast cavern, the roof of which is supported by huge 
pillars of rock, left untouched by the workmen. 

We entered by a narrow hole, through which we had 
to creep ; and after stumbling over debris down hill and 
up hill we found ourselves in the midst of a labyrinth of 



JEKU3ALEM WITHOUT THE WALLS. 157 

vast caves, whose high arches and wide mouths were lost 
in darkness. On we went, tottering after our feeble 
lights long after we lost sight of the eye of day at the 
entrance. "With cavern after cavern on the right and left 
and ahead of us, we got eerie, and began to think, in 
spite of the lucifers — unknown as an earthly reality to 
the Jews of old — what would become of us if our lights 
went out. It is difficult to say how far the quarries 
extend. I have been told by one who has examined into 
their inner mysteries that there are walls built up which 
prevent thorough exploration. It is more than likely that 
the stones of the Temple were here prepared ; for " the 
house when it was in building was built of stone made 
ready before it was brought thither, so that there was 
neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in 
the house while it was building." The stone is a white 
limestone, and must have given a pure and bright appear- 
ance to the Temple. 

We saw some blocks half cut out of the living rock, 
but never completed. I know not why such unfinished 
works as those stones, partly prepared yet never used, 
are so impressive. They are very old — older than any 
inhabited building on earth, and ages older than most of 
our modern ruins — yet they look young, like children 
that were embalmed at birth. They are monuments not 
of the past so much as of an expected future — enduring 
types of designs frustrated, of plans unexecuted, and of 
hopes unrealised — symbols of the ignorance of man, who 
plants and builds, until a sudden coming of God revolu- 



158 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



tionises the world to him. Why, we ask, did not this 
or that stone fulfil its intended destiny ? What stopped 
the work ? What hindered the workman from returning 
with his mallet and chisel to finish it ? What caused the 
abrupt pause which has not been disturbed for centuries ? 
The stones yet wait in silence, and may wait probably till 
all man's works are burnt up. And still we go on in the 
old way, planting and building, marrying and giving in 
marriage, rearing palaces, barns, and churches, as if the 
earth were firm beneath our feet, and time would never 
end. But we must not indulge in dreamy meditations, 
lest our lights go out, and the stones at last serve some 
purpose by entombing our skeletons. We reach the day- 
light, which, first like a brilliant star, and then a sun, 
pierces through the gloom from the narrow entrance. 

This work of exploration is no easy task with such a 
temperature. You can fancy what it is to be obliged to 
poke through holes like a rat, flit through caverns like a 
bat, and then come into daylight only to pace along 
under a glare from white rocks, white stony roads, white 
walls, no shelter anywhere except under an olive, when 
there is one, or in the cool recesses of a house, which is 
not to be thought of until evening. 

I long to bring the reader to Olivet and Bethany ; but 
let us first take a rapid glance at some of the spots south 
of the city. There we find a steep, in some places rocky 
hills, carefully cultivated in terraces, with many olive and 
fruit trees. This was the Ophel of the olden time. The 
valley to the east of Ophel is that of Jehoshaphat, or the 




Site of Jerusalem. (From a drawing by Mr. Fergusson.) 



Scale, 1084 yards to the inch. 



1. Scopus. 

2. Tombs of the Kings. 

3. Damascus Gate. 

4. St. Stephen's Gate. 

5. Golden Gate. 

6. David's Gate. 

7. Jaffa Gate. 

8. Pool of Hezekiah. 

9. The Holy Sepulchre. 

10. Jalud Ruin. 

11. Castle of David. 

12. Citadel. 

13. Pool of Bethesda. 



14. The Haram, or Holy 

Place, containing— 

15. The Dome of the 

Rock, and 

16. The Mosques El- Aksa 

and Omar. 

17. Fountain of the Vir- 

gin. 

18. Pillar of Absalom. 

19. Gethsemane. 

20. *Shoulder of the 

Mount of Olives, 
where "He beheld 



the city, and wept 
over it." 

21. Enrogel. 

22. Upper Pool. 

23. Lower Pool. 

24. Summit of the Mount 

of Olives. 

25. Hill of Evil Counsel. 

26. Mt. of Corruption. 

27. Village of Siloam. 

28. Pool of Siloam. 

29. Sepulchre of David. 



SILOAM. 



161 



Kidron, separating Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. 
It attains its greatest depth immediately beneath the 
south-east angle of the Temple. Another valley, it will 
be observed from the plan, curves in from the west. 
This is the valley of Hinnom or Tophet. 

Perhaps there is no place on earth where so many 
thoughts of human crime and misery suggest themselves 
as among the rocky sepulchres of this valley. It must 
always have been an out-of-the-way, dark, secluded spot. 
There is no other like it near Jerusalem. The horrible 
Molech fires which consumed many an agonized child 
once blazed among these stones. " They have built the 
high places of Tophet," said the Prophet Jeremiah, 
" which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn 
their sons and their daughters in the fire ; which I com- 
manded them not, neither came it into my heart." 

On the opposite side, on the Hill of Corruption, where 
the village of Siloam is now built, Solomon set up his 
idols in the very sight of the Temple. It was these 
abominations which Josiah cleared away : — for 66 he 
defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of 
Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter 
to pass through the fire to Molech." "And the high 
places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the 
right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon 
the King of Israel had builded, did the king defile." 

As if to complete the painful associations, there is 
pointed out among the rocky hills of Hirmom, imme- 
diately below the Hill of Evil Counsel, Aceldama, or 

M 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



"the field of blood," where, into a caverned pit, now 
built over, bodies were cast, with hardly an}' other burial 
than to lie there under a little sprinkling of earth until 




THU POOL C~F SILOAM* 



turned into corruption. It has been closed for a century,, 
but will ever be associated with the traitor. 

No wonder this spot in the valley of Hinnom, with its 
consuming fires, its vile moral as well as physical corrup- 



THE POOL OF SILOAM. 



163 



tion, should have become, as Tophet or Gehenna, a type 
of Hell. 

The inhabitants in the immediate neighbourhood of 
these infamous spots do not redeem their character. The 
villagers of Siloam partly live in houses and partly in the 
old rock tombs, and are notorious thieves — such a col- 
lection of scoundreldom as might be the joint product 
of gipsies, vagabond Jews, and the lowest Arabs. Their 
presence in Siloam makes all the Mount of Olives unsafe 
after nightfall to those who are not protected. 

But the name Siloam recalls a very different scene , 
and one for ever associated with the Saviour's power and 
love. There is no dispute whatever regarding the site of 
the old Pool, which has never been challenged. It is 
about 53 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 19 feet deep. It is 
surrounded by an old wall, which, it has been suggested, 
is the same as that of which it is recorded : — " Shallum 
built the wall and the pool of Siloam by the king's 
garden." Above it is an arch, under which a flight of 
steps descends to the water that flows past, clear and 
pure, into the pool. In this the blind man was sent to 
wash. 

This one fact sheds a light and glory over the whole 
place. We can easily picture to ourselves the poor man 
proceeding with his clay-covered eyes, his anxious and 
eager faith subduing his doubts and fears, until the water 
bathes his face, and then ! — he sees for the first time 
those very rocks, perhaps that same old wall ; and better 
than all, with the eye of the spirit, as well as of the> 



164 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



flesh, lie sees Jesus as " the Sent " of God, and as his 
Saviour. This Pool of Siloam is fed from sources which 
extend towards Zion, and possibly Moriah. It is con- 
ducted down to the valley opposite the village of Siloain, 




THE FOUNTAIN OF THE VIRGIN. 

where it flows out a sparkling stream, round which 
women were merrily washing clothes, and men giving 
drink to their horses, as we passed. A conduit also has 
been traced, which connects it with the Fountain of the 



JEHU SALEM WITHOUT THE WALLS. 



165 



Virgin, which is still higher up the valley, and is reached 
by a descent of twenty-six steps. It exhibits the curious 
phenomenon of an intermittent fountain, ebbing and flow- 
ing at certain intervals. The overflow of Siloam now 
gladdens the lower portion of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, 
near En-Eogel, w T hich was once " the king's gardens." 
This spot is green and fertile still ; and when one has 
seen what water has done for the gardens of Urtas, he 
can understand how beautiful those king's gardens must 
once have been. 




BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



CHAPTER XII. 

BETHANY AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 

NOW let us to Olivet and Bethany. 
The moment one leaves the gate of St. Stephen, 
which leads down to the Kidron, and thence to Olivet, he is 
struck with the unartistic roughness of the road. The 
last thing on earth one would expect to see would be a 
city gate without a road leading to it. Yet there is no 
road here but a path steep and rough as one on the face 
of a Highland hill. 

A timid man feels uneasy in riding down it, unless his 
horse be very sure-footed. He has every reason for 
fearing a glissade over the loose small stones. It has to 
all appearance been left to take care of itself since history 
began. But it is nevertheless the old highway to Bethany 



THE GAKDEN OF GETHSEMANE. 



169 



and Jericho. Fortunately, the descent is only two or 
three hundred feet. 

At the bottom, when the dry bed of the brook Kidron 
is passed, one finds himself in the angle between the road 
which leads directly over Olivet to Bethany and that 
which leads to the same point along the side of the hill to 
the right. At this spot tradition has placed the Garden of 
Gethsemane — an unlikely place, in my humble opinion, 
from its want of seclusion; for those roads must always have 
met here. How many quiet nooks there are up the valley I 

The priests, with their usual taste and their wonderful 
talent for spoiling every place which they wish to make 
sacred after their own fashion, have enclosed the fine old 
olives, which it is assumed marked the spot, within a 
square of high whitewashed walls, like what might sur- 
round a graveyard, and have made an ugly garden with 
flowerbeds within it ! I did not enter the place. 

Who, were it even the actual spot, could indulge in 
such feelings as it is calculated to excite, with a monk at 
hand exhibiting as holy places " the cave of agony," " the 
spot where the disciples fell asleep," " where Judas be- 
trayed Him," &c? It would have been great enjoyment 
could I have sat alone, under those patriarchal trees, with 
the rough hill-side or a bit of greensward beneath my 
feet. As it was, I preferred an undisturbed and quiet 
look over the wall at the grand old olives. It was some- 
thing to think of all they have witnessed during the 
centuries in which they have been silently gazing at Jeru- 
salem and on passers by. 



170 



ROUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



1 ascended Olivet for the first time by the road which 
rises almost directly from Gethsemane to the mosque on 
the top of the hill, and which from thence descends to 
Bethany. 

After enjoying the wide-spreading view from the 
summit, which embraces the wilderness of Judea, the 
Dead Sea, the eastern wall of the ridge of Moab, and the 
mountains round about Jerusalem, I descended to Bethany. 
I was not disappointed with its appearance. Had it been 
bare rock it would still have been holy ground. 

The village consists, as all others in Palestine do, of 
brown mud hovels with encircling mud walls — dust, 
confusion, children, dogs, and poverty. Everything is 
squalid. But yet there are patches of greenery and trees 
io be seen, and the singing of birds to be heard ; while 
the broken ground, and glens, with the glimpses into the 
•steep descent which leads to Jericho, give to it a certain 
wild, sequestered character of its own. "When it was 
well cultivated and well wooded, it must have been of all 
the places near Jerusalem the most peaceful as well as 
the most picturesque. 

Like an old familiar melody, one loves to repeat the 
miracle which will for -ever be associated with Bethany, 
^and to ponder over the rest and repose which Jesus found 
for his weary heart in the loving responses of this family 
of Mary and Martha. 

T\ T e returned from Bethany by the old road from 
.Jericho, which first ascends from the village for about 
100 yards, then descends along one side of a wady which 



BETHANY AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 173 

opens out from the roots of Olivet, and, ascending the 
opposite side, debouches on the high ground leading 
across the flank of Olivet to Jerusalem. It there reaches 
a point opposite the south-east angle of the Temple, and 
from thence rapidly descends to Gethsemane. The place 
where Jesus beheld the city and wept over it is unques- 
tionably that point. There Jerusalem suddenly bursts on 
the sight, but upon descending a short distance further 
down the hill the view of it is rapidly concealed. 

I spent my last Sunday in Jerusalem on the Mount of 
Olives. It was a day never to be forgotten ; one of those 
heavenly days which cannot die, but become part of one's 
life. Alone, with no companion but my Bible, I went 
along the Via Dolorosa, passed out by St. Stephen's gate, 
descended to Gethsemane, and from thence pursued the 
old road already described, which leads to Bethany and 
Jericho, by the western slope of Olivet overlooking the 
valley of Jehoshaphat. 

At the summit of the short ascent a few ledges of lime- 
stone rock, carpeted w T ith greensward, crop out beside the 
path, and afford a natural resting-place, of which I availed 
myself. The old wall and the well-known corner of the 
Haram Area were immediately opposite me, and so visibly 
near in the pure transparent atmosphere that the stones 
could be counted, and the green tufts of the plants among 
them. 

The day was of course cloudless and hot, but it was not 
oppressive, for the air was stirred by a gentle breeze with 
a mountain freshness in it. Though the city was so near 



174 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



with most of its people pursuing their usual avocations- 
both within and without the walls, yet no sound disturbed 
the intense repose except, strange to say, the crowing of 
cocks, as if at early morn, and the shouts of a solitary 




A STREET IN JERUSALEM. 



peasant who was urging his plough across the once busy 
but now deserted slopes of Ophel. I gazed on Jerusalem 
until it seemed to be a dream — a white ghostly city in the 
silent air. My thoughts took no fixed shape, but were 
lost in the presence of some undefined source of awe, 



THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 



175 



wonder, and sorrow. I was recalled, however, to what 
was very near when I opened my Bible, and read these 
words : As He went out of the Temple — probably by the 
Double Gate in the south wall I have already described, 
with the great stones all around, — one of His disciples 
saith unto Him, Master, see what manner of stones and 
what buildings are here ! And Jesus answering saith unto 
him, Seest thou these great buildings ? There shall not 
be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown 
clown. And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives over 
against the Temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew 
asked Him privately, " Tell us, when shall these things be ? 
and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be 
fulfilled ? " And if Jesus on His way to Bethany " sat 
upon the Mount of Olives over against the Temple ," there 
is certainly no place I could discover which was so likely 
to be the very spot as the one which I occupied. 

Here, in this holy place untouched by the hand of man, 
unnoticed, and apparently unknown, I read the prophe- 
cies, parables, and exhortations of our Lord uttered in the 
hearing of His holy Apostles, and recorded for all time in 
the 24th and 25th chapters of St. Matthew. They include, 
among others, the prophecies of His first coming at the 
destruction of Jerusalem, then in her glory, now so deso- 
late — with his second coming at the end of the world ; 
the parables of the ten virgins and of the ten talents, and 
the trial of love at the last judgment— all ending in the 
touching announcement, " Ye know that after two days 
is the feast of the passover, and the Son of Man is be- 



176 BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 

trayed to be crucified! " " All these sayings" I read 
•undisturbed while sitting over against the old wall within 
w T hich the Temple once rose in its strength and glory, but 
not one stone of which is now left upon another. 




THE JEWISH BUB.YIXG-GE.OrXD. 



While pondering over the words of Christ, I was struck 
by seeing near me a fig-tree, with its branches putting 
forth leaves, and in some places young figs. The unex- 
pected illustration of the words I had just read, as here 



TILE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 



179 



first uttered, " When the fig-tree putteth forth leaves, ye 
know summer is nigh," brought to my mind that surely 
these were spoken at the same season of the year as that 
in which I read them, and I was at once reminded that 
the day was Palm Sunday, the anniversary of the very 
time when our Lord had wept here over Jerusalem, and 
had also delivered those discourses. 

When in Palestine I felt that there were times in 
which the past seemed so present, Christ and His 
word so living and real, that had any one suddenly 
appeared and said, " I saw Him and heard Him," I 
should not have been surprised : and this day was one 
of them. 

From this spot I went to that other, very near, where 
our Lord wept over Jerusalem. 

There is one feature of the view from this spot which I 
was not prepared for, and which greatly impressed me. 
It is the Jewish burying-ground. For centuries, I know 
not how many, Jews of every country have come to die 
in Jerusalem that they might be buried in the valley of 
Jehoshaphat. 

Their wish to lie here is connected with certain super- 
stitious views regarding the Last Judgment (which they 
believe is to take place on this spot), and certain privi- 
leges which are to be then bestowed on all who are here 
interred. And thus thousands, possibly millions, of the 
most bigoted and superstitious Israelites, from every part 
of the world, have in the evening of life flocked to this 
the old " city of their solemnities," that after death they 



ISO 



BOUND ABOUT THE CITY. 



might be gathered to their fathers beneath the shadow of 
its walls. 

I never saw a graveyard to me so impressive. Scutari 
is far more extensive, and more terribly deathlike. But 
from its huddled monuments and crowded trees, it is 
impossible to penetrate its dark and complicated recesses. 
Here, there are no monuments, and no trees. Each 
grave is covered by a flat stone with Hebrew inscriptions, 
and has nothing between it and the open sky. These 
stones pave the whole eastern slope of the valley. Every 
inch of ground where a human body can lie is covered. 
Along the banks of the Eidron, up the side of Olivet, 
and across the road leading from Bethany to Jerusalem* 
stretches this vast city of the dead. 

Before I returned to Jerusalem I wandered among the 
solitudes of Olivet — hardly knowing where. I sat and 
read my Bible under one tree, and then under another ; 
descended some glen, or unknown and solitary nook 7 
feeling only that this was Olivet, and that the whole hill 
was consecrated of old by the bodily presence of the 
Saviour. Most thankful, however, was I to know that 
the Person, not the place, was holy — that His love was 
not local but universal ; and that not only among the 
silent hills of Palestine, in Jerusalem, Nazareth, or 
Tiberias, but in our crowded cities, common-place 
villages, and in every house, in every room, nook and 
corner of the world Jesus may be known, loved, 
obeyed, and glorified. With thanksgiving I repeated, on 
Olivet : — 



BETHANY AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. 



181 



" There are in this loud stunning tide 
Of human care and crime, 



With whom the melodies abide 

Of th' everlasting chime, 
"Who carry music in their heart 
Through dusty lane and wrangling mart, 
Plying their busy task with busier feet, 
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.'' 




THE NEIGHBOUEHOOD OF 
JEEUSALEM. 



THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 
JEEUSALEM. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

A DAY'S JOURNEY TOWARDS JERICHO. 




IKE all travellers in Palestine, we of course paid a 
' visit to the Jordan and Dead Sea. 



To accomplish the journey, we were advised to take a 
guard. The very proposal threw a certain air of romantic 
danger over the expedition. I almost began to regret 
that I had no supply of bullets for my revolver ; and to 
become painfully doubtful of its even being free from rust, 
to say nothing of the trustworthiness of the caps, should 
the trigger ever be drawn. 

But if it came to fighting, which I sincerely deprecated, 
I had fortunately no doubt whatever of my utter in- 
capacity to hit either man or horse, should I be fool 
enough to try; and was confident that I would adopt 



186 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



no other course in the event of a " scrimmage," than 
that of either yielding -with all grace to the Ishmaelite, 
or, if possible, galloping off. 

There was no use, however, in speculating as to how 
one would feel or look, if stripped and robbed in the 
wilderness. It was enough to know that we had resolved 
to see certain places, and that an escort was necessary, 
come weal or woe. 

Let me illustrate the position of a modern traveller 
wishing to see the Dead Sea, by a parallel case which 
might have occurred to a Sassenach wishing to visit Loch 
Lomond in the days of the Sheik Rob Roy, when his tribe 
of the Gregarach were in possession of one side of the 
lake. The traveller, we will suppose, reaches Glasgow on 
horseback a few weeks after leaving London, and brings 
with him a letter of introduction to Bailie Xicol Jarvie 
from some Scotch merchant in the metropolis. He applies 
to the Bailie for advice as to the safest manner of accom- 
plishing his purpose of seeing the frontier wilderness of 
the Highlands. 

The magistrate speaks of its danger ; and is ready, over 
his ale in the Salt-market, to narrate his own adventures 
and escapes at Aberfoyle — but comforts the traveller by 
the assurance that the red-haired Sheik, Rob, happens to 
be in town ; that he is a friend of his, having more than 
once saved him from the clutch of the Pasha Provost ; 
and that he will easily arrange for a guard, on black-mail 
being paid. The Sassenach smiles at the idea, points to his 
fire-arms, talks contemptuously of the savage Gregarach, 



a day's joukney towaeds jepjcho. 18? 

enlarges on the grandeur of the Saxon, and resolves to go 
with his own servant John only. 

The Sheik hears this, and vows vengeance for being 
thus done out of £5, which would keep his spleuchan 
or pouch full of tobacco for months. So he summons his 
henchman, the Dugald Cratur, and tells him to be off to 
theWady of Balmaha, and there assemble half a dozen of 
his tribe, to lie in wait among the heather and behind the 
rocks with their long guns, until they see a white-faced 
Sassenach with trousers, coming along — then to fire some- 
powder, rush at him with a yell, roar Gaelic in his ear, 
rob him — but do no more. "The next chiel," adds the 
Sheik, taking a snuff, " will be more ceevil." 

Thus would act in all probability the Eob Koy of the 
Taamireh, Allaween, Anazi, Beni Sakker, or any other 
tribe. No doubt at Loch Lomond the Graham might 
dispute the right with the Gregarach of keeping the Wady 
of Balmaha as a preserve or net for travellers, and they 
might accordingly fight Rob or Dugald, when travellers, 
were under their protection and paying them black-mail. 
So might the Anazi fight the Taamireh. 

Still it is better for every reason to pay and take your 
chance, assured that then you are, in ordinary circum- 
stances — the extraordinary being easily ascertained before 
leaving Jerusalem — quite as safe in going to most spots 
in Palestine as to most spots in Europe, especially Italy. 
And there is one real advantage gained by such arrange- 
ments, that is the security given, and respected, that any 
property stolen will be replaced. 



183 



THE NEIGHBOUBHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



A tall Arab Sheik, in a shabby dressing-gown, with 
turban above, and bare legs thrust into clouted shoes 
below, did us the honour of squatting himself on our 
divan one evening, and of agreeing to protect us with the 
lives of all his tribe. The trifling sum asked for this 
service, it must be presumed, expressed the small extent 
of our risk and the little value put upon the lives of the 
warriors who might be sacrificed. 

The day before we started I was loitering in the streets 
and by-lanes of the city seeing what I could see. When 
opposite the Austrian Consul's house I was attracted by 
a troop of Arab horsemen drawn up in loose array. A 
handsomely-dressed Turk was calling over their names. 
They had formed the guard, I was told, of the Duke of 
Modena from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and were now being 
paid off. In my life I never beheld such a set of raga- 
muffins ! 

The horses were far superior in their breeding to those 
who rode them; they were small, thin, and wiry, but 
with a life in their eyes and a defleshed firmness of 
muscle which marked them as fit for enduring hard 
work. 

Their riders wore the usual Arab dress. They had 
kaffiahs bound with cord round their heads ; their cotton 
or camel-hair garments were sufficiently thin and loose ; 
their feet were stuck into coarse leather sandals or 
boots ; and they were accoutred with long spears and 
guns slung over their backs. Their faces were studies ! 
Each rose from its own neck a distinct individual face, 



a day's JOURNEY TOWARDS JERICHO. 189 



with all the essentials of a face, but these were arranged 
with an art which I had never seen before, concentrating 
scoundrel in every feature, and forming a combined whole 
to me quite unparalleled. 

I singled out two or three, and pictured to myself the 
feelings of any decorous parson or sensitive lady, who 
might fall into such hands on the lonely and bituminous 
shores of the Dead Sea, and who might endeavour to 
read their fate in the expression of such countenances ! 
One man, a black, seemed to me the personification of 
animal ugliness. 

Next day, when our escort was mustered, I discovered 
among them my black friend, and some of my other 
studies of human villany. But I am bound in justice to 
add, that, after having been politely introduced to them, 
and making their acquaintance through our mutual friend 
Hadji Ali, and having done all I could to discover the 
cloven foot in them, the impression made upon me was, 
that they were all very good-natured and obliging fellows, 
inclined no doubt, like all the children of Jacob as well 
as of Esau, to backsheesh, but on the whole pleasant and 
agreeable. I have no doubt, that in the event of a fight, 
they would have fired their guns in a way I could not 
have done mine ; but I have also no doubt that had I 
bolted they would have accompanied me (in kindness no 
doubt), and have even led the way far ahead* 

We clattered over the stones of the Via Dolorosa, 
passed through St. Stephen's Gate, ascended the slope of 



190 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



Olivet, skirted the mud hovels of Bethany, and im- 
mediately began the rapid descent of the gorge leading 
for about twenty miles to Jericho. This road has been 
made for ever famous, not so much, strange to say, by 
the .fact that along it our Lord journeyed, as by his 
glorious parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the 
religion of charity, and his own universal love to his 
*' neighbour,'' are so grandly illustrated. 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN* 



The descent from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea is, as the 
reader knows, a half greater than that from Jerusalem to 
the Mediterranean. In round numbers, it is twice 1,800 
feet from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean, three times 
1,300 from Jerusalem to the surface of the Dead Sea, 
and four times 1,300 to the bottom of the Dead Sea. We 



A DAY'S JOURNEY TOWARDS JERICHO. 191 

had thus, in the short space, to make a descent of 8,900 
feet to the shore of the Dead Sea. 

The part of the descent immediately below Bethany is 
the steepest. There is a path here of loose stones and 
smooth rock, which rapidly plunges into the head of the 
long valley. 

It must have been up this steep our Saviour toiled, on 
his momentous journey from Jericho to Bethany. And 
to the summit of this ascent, or possibly from it, gazing 
along the windings of the glen, must Martha and Mary 
have turned their longing and expectant gaze for the 
coming of the Saviour to heal their brother Lazarus. Up 
this road the wondering crowd had accompanied Him 
from Jericho, with one joyful man among them, the 
blind beggar Bartimeus, w 7 ho, having received his sight, 
beheld with a greater sense of novelty and wonder, than 
any traveller before or since, those wild scaurs and rocky 
uplands — unless indeed his eyes were fixed on one object 
only, Jesus, the Son of David, who had mercy on him. 

On reaching the bottom of this rapid descent, and 
passing a well and the ruins of an old khan, our road ran 
right along the bottom of the valley. It was a bare, 
bleak, dry, limestone bit of scenery, but not tamer or 
more uninteresting than many places which I have 
traversed, even in Scotland. But after a few miles, when 
we got entangled among broken uplands and deep 
gorges, lonely, wild, and dreary in the extreme, things 
began to have a wilderness and Dead Sea look. 

We rested at a spot well known to every traveller, 



192 THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 

near an old inn or khan now in ruins, which was famous 
as a sort of rendezvous for brigands, and where Sir 
Francis Henneker was robbed and wounded forty years 
ago. We did not, however, even catch a glimpse of man 
or boy prowling near. 

Was this the " inn " alluded to by the Saviour, to 
which the good Samaritan is represented as bringing the 
suffering stranger ? It may have been some well-known 
spot like this, the parable gaining, to those who heard 
it, more vividness and reality by a local allusion. 

I may mention here, that, strange to say, this was the 
only part of our journey in Palestine where we saw any 
signs of cruelty. Two Arabs going to Jericho were 
driving before them a miserable skeleton-looking horse 
with a knee hideously diseased. The brute could hardly 
touch the ground with its agonised limb, but ever and 
anon it did so, leaving spots of blood on the road. 

It was vain to expostulate with its drivers ; so for the 
sake of our own feelings, as well as for the sake of the 
wretched creature, we resolved to purchase it and shoot 
it. The skin alone, we thought, could be of any value to 
its owners ; and our dragoman agreed that our offer of 
100 piastres, about £1, was therefore a handsome price. 
But it was indignantly refused, and 1,000 piastres de- 
manded ! And so the brute was driven on, at a rate, too, 
which, fortunately for us at least, enabled it to get so far 
ahead that we lost sight of it. 

Another act. equally out of harmony with the spirit 
of the good Samaritan, was perpetrated by our escort. 



A day's JOURNEY TOWARDS JERICHO. 193 

They seized a lamb from a flock and drove it on before 
tbem. We expostulated as earnestly as did its owner, 
but the deed was justified by the chiefs on some principle 
of black-mail which in their opinion made the claim a 
right, though we more than suspected it to be a robbery. 
So much for the unloving spirit still seen on the way from 
Jericho to Jerusalem, 

Soon after passing the old khan, we entered a narrow 
path full of interest. Immediately below us, to the left, 
was a deep gorge that cut its way through bare rocky 
precipices, between which, five hundred feet down, a 
fresh full mountain-stream rushed along to the plain of 
the Jordan. This was the Wady Kelt, and in all pro- 
bability the brook Cherith where Elijah was supported 
during the famine. The cry of ravens was still echoing 
from the wild precipices. We saw remains of old aque- 
ducts, and other buildings. 

The precipices were also dotted here and there with 
<cave-like holes, the first mementoes we had seen of the 
old hermits who once lived here, like grey bats, nourish- 
ing their strange religious life. Eemains of old chapels, 
in which they had worshipped and had caught some 
glimpses of a higher life and of a better country, were 
visible on the heights. 

On and down we went, winding through this arid 
waste, until at last we saw the plain of Jericho stretching 
below us, dotted with verdure produced by the mountain 
springs, and stretching, a grey flat with patches of wood 
here and there, until its bar© shore-like surface was 

o 



104 



THE NEIGHB DL'EHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



fringed, ten miles off. by the lina of vegetation shading 
the unseen and deep bed of the Jordan. Beyond the 
Jordan rose the grand ridge of Moab, and to the right 
appeared the northern bay of the Dead Sea. 

Down, down, we crept, always thinking we would in a 
few minutes reach the lowest level, yet always finding a 
lower still. But every lane has a turning, and so had 
ours ; and right glad were we when it turned to the left, 
as the shades of evening were drawing over us, and we 
saw our white tents, pitched where those of many a thank- 
ful and weary traveller had been pitched before, under 
the Quarantania, and near the Ain es Sultan, or Fountain 
of Elisha. 

Oh, what a blessed sight are those tents ! What a 
paradise do they appear to a weary man after a day's 
ride, when everything is hot, from the sky above to the. 
earth beneath, and to the very waters under the earth. 

Your horse begins to neigh, and to pace along with 
cocked ears, the prospect of fodder being as cheering to 
him as AToharained's dinner is to us. And then, after 
ablutions, how delightful to lean down on the camp bed ; 
and after dinner and pleasant friendly talk about the 
sights and adventures of the day, to go out in the cool 
night, with the world of stars all twinkling in the unsur- 
passed sky of this lower region ; to catch picturesque 
glimpses of the Arabs in the dim light around their fires ; 
to hear the awful stillness of the silent land : and then to 
sleep, as motionless as a desert stone ! 

But before falling into this unconscious state, we here 



a day's joueney towaeds JEEICHO. 



195 



exhibited a few fireworks which we had brought from 
London (cockney fashion) for the purpose of amusing the 
Arabs, or maybe with the innocent hope of awing the 
desert tribes by a revelation of wonder and power. 

The musical snuff-box was our opus magnum, but the 
Eoman candles were our most imposing spectacle. 

I had the honour, as the Hakeem Pasha, of letting them 
off in the presence of what the newspapers would describe 
as an " attentive and admiring audience." They shot 
aloft with great success, and " fortunately no accident 
occurred.'' Our Arabs were delighted, even Meeki smiled, 
and condescendingly manifested a sense of agreeable sur- 
prise. Had any robbers been prowling about the plain 
looking for plunder, it is more than likely, as we after- 
wards concluded, that our fireworks, instead of frighten- 
ing them away, would rather have attracted them to 
our tents. 

We gave our escort a homely supper of rice mixed 
with various ingredients prepared by the cook. They 
eagerly seized the food with their fingers, dexterously 
moulded it, and chucked it into their mouths, as they 
squatted round the large dish placed in the centre of their 
circle. In return they danced one of their dances, if 
dance it could be called where the body and not the foot 
moved. 

Twelve of them formed a line, while their chief with 
drawn sword stood facing them. They then began with 
a low monotonous chant, or rather howl, to move back- 
wards and forwards, while he moved, and swayed, and 



196 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



ducked, making fantastic movements with Lis sword. 
And so on it went, utterly unintelligible to us. It had, of 
course, a meaning, to one able and learned enough to 
appreciate it ; but to us it had none, and sundry attempts 
on Hadji Ali's part to make it plain, only served to con- 
vince us that he, too, knew nothing about it. So we 
were glad when it ceased, and we could retire to our tents 
without giving offence. 

These men underwent a wonderful amount of physical 
endurance. During our journey, they hunted partridges 
(which they fired at only when the birds sat) and gazelles 
along the whole road — now running down the valleys, 
and again rushing to the tops of the rocks with unwearied 
perseverance and activity. They managed to kill a gazelle 
and a brace of partridges, which we bought from them. 
Yet at the end of their day's journey, which they had 
made double by their exertions, they challenged us to 
race them ; and for about two hundred yards they kept 
up with our horses urged to their highest speed, which, 
however, it must be admitted, was not equal to the Derby 
stride. 

I remembered, while seeing them, the fact of Elijah 
running before the chariot of Ahab from Carmel to 
Jezreel. His was not, after all, such a feat of physical 
strength, considering the state of the roads, and the 
probably somewhat slow driving of the king, as was that 
of our Arabs. 

Next morning we enjoyed a view of the cliffs of 
Quarantania, which we had examined rapidly the evening 



A DAY'S JOURNEY TOWARDS JERICHO. 



197 



before. The high pyramidal precipice was honeycombed 
with hermits' cells. A ruined chapel was on the summit. 

It is strange indeed to think of the world of thought, 
politics, and opinions, which interested those hermits, as 
they once crept from cavern to cavern, or sat in groups 
on their limestone seats, gazing from their rocks of sure 
defence, over the plain, on to the Dead Sea, and wild hills 
beyond, until they died, and were laid beside old friends 
in a dark cave. 




THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 
JEEUSALEM. 



CHAPTER XIY. 



THE JORDAN AXD THE DEAD SEA. 



TE started at early morn for the Jordan and Dead 



" » Sea. The day promised to be hot, if indeed a cool 
one was ever known at the bottom of this singular hollow 
since the day it was formed by its restless and hot parents, 
the earthquake and volcano. 

After visiting the Ain es Sultan, and rejoicing in the 
delicious though not very cool water springing from its 
limestone cave, we gazed on the great mounds on every 
side, speculating in vain on their relation to ancient 
Jericho. It is probable that the first Jericho was here, 
and that the Jericho of the Gospels was near the spot 
where the mountain road we had traversed debouched 




THE JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA. 



201 



into the plain. The so-called Jericho is modern, and may 
possibly mark the site of Gilgal. 

We struck across the plain to the Jordan. We pushed 
through a tangled wilderness of low trees, and passed 
Jericho, that capital of rascaldom, robbery, poverty, and 
vice, and soon began to pace over the bare flat of the 
Ghor. 

We passed in succession, and after considerable in- 
tervals, three steep beaches, leading down from a higher 
to a lower level, and each marking a former shore of the 
river. These shores have been occupied probably during 
inundations, and when the Jordan flowed at higher levels. 
It was not until we descended the fourth beach that we 
reached the narrow plain through which it now flows. 
There its muddy and rapid waters rushed in eddying 
circles like those of a glacier stream, between tangled 
brushwood of various kinds, and trees, and tall reeds that 
bent their feathered heads in the quiet air, there being no- 
wind to shake them. On the other side, perpendicular 
banks of white clay, with the edge of a higher bank 
appearing beyond, hemmed the water in. It did not 
seem more than one hundred feet broad. 

Some of our party and the Arabs bathed in it. I 
deferred that duty, chiefly from fear of being swept off 
by the stream, until we reached the Dead Sea. The 
Arabs revealed a very simple toilet, consisting merely of 
a long shirt, and a cotton or camel's hair dressing-gown. 

We lingered some time on the bank of the river, cutting 
walking-sticks for mementoes, and also some bulrush- 



202 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



heads — an innocent amusement verily, and affording a 
striking enough contrast to boar-hunting and other "manly 
sports." 

As we rode towards the Dead Sea, and turned away for 
ever from the Jordan, I began to recall all the grand 
events associated with the river and the plain through 
which it flowed. 

Somewhere beyond and above us was Pisgah, from 
which that grand man Moses, the Saint Paul of the old 
dispensation, saw revealed for the first time the vision of 
his life — the land on which he was not to tread until he 
appeared on it in glory along with the Messiah of whom 
he had testified. The Jordan was full of memories, dating 
from the famous day when the ark stayed its waters, and 
the armies of Israel defiled before it after their long 
wilderness journey into the Holy Land of Promise — Caleb 
and Joshua alone connecting them with Egypt — down- 
wards through the times of Elijah and Elisha, Naaman 
the Syrian, and John the Baptist, until the Lord himself 
was consecrated in its waters for the public work of his 
ministry. Behind us was Jericho, associated with the 
victories of Joshua, the school of the Prophets, the healing 
miracles of Jesus ; — and holy Grilgal, also long the seat of 
worship before the Tabernacle was pitched at Shiloh, and 
the place where Samuel and Saul and David and the 
ancient Church had prayed, and offered sacrifices, and 
sung their songs of praise. 

How desolate and dreary is all this scene now ! It is 
the haunt of brigands, and the home of a few poor de- 



THE JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA. 



203 



based peasants. The great forests of palm-trees which 
filled the plain for miles together, with the fields of sugar- 
cane, have all disappeared, and tangled thickets of value- 
less trees and shrubs alone remain. The granaries of 
corn which could feed the armies of Israel, enabling them 
to dispense with the manna, have perished : while but a 
few patches of cultivation are left to testify of the former 
fertility. Desolation everywhere, and the stones of 
emptiness ! 

The very sites of Jericho and Gilgal are uncertain, 
and wild beasts or wilder men roam where Holy Prophets 
taught, where the Baptist preached, and where the Son 
of God performed his miracles of love and power. 

When we reached the shore of the Dead Sea, we all 
gazed in silence on the scene before us. What were cur 
first impressions ? Putting aside the associations of God's 
anger and righteous judgment which are irresistibly 
suggested by all we know of those degraded races who 
dwelt somewhere on its borders or on spots where its 
waters rest, the scene was decidedly pleasing. True, it 
is not picturesque. The want of life on this part of its 
waters makes it dull and uninteresting, without, however, 
giving it the dreary look of many a Highland loch — such, 
for example, as that darkest and most barren of all I have 
ever seen, Coruisk in Skye. Nor is the mountain range 
of its shores apparently " bleak and blasted," like the 
sides of a volcano, but, generally speaking, it is clothed 
with what looks like herbage, though it may be but low 
shrubs ; while several beautiful and luxuriant wadies de- 



204 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



bouch on its shores. And then there was a delicious 
breeze blowing over it, sending fresh-looking tiny waves 
to the shore ; and the water was so marvellously clear 
and transparent, and we were so hot and deliquescent, 
that an ablution was anticipated with peculiar pleasure. 
It is an error to suppose that there is actually no life 




THE DEAD SEA. 



of plant or animal possible within the influence of its so- 
called noxious vapours. Plants do grow on its border; 
and further south, birds are seen not only flying over it 
but swimming or wading in its waters. No fish have as 
yet been discovered in it ; and this no one who touches 
its waters will be surprised at, assuming that fish have 



THE DEAD SEA. 



205 



tastes like men ! But one must draw upon fancy more 
than on what is seen by the eye to make the Dead Sea so 
very dreadful as it is generally supposed to be. 

We bathed of course, and the experiences gained there- 
by are such as its waters alone afford. Every one knows 
what a horrid taste it has. No mixture of vinegar, alum, 




THE DEAD SEA. 



and sulphur, or any similar compound which would fret 
the skin and pucker the tongue, can give any idea of it. 
One must taste the deceptive liquid, so clear and beauti- 
ful, yet so vile and nauseous, in order to appreciate its 
composition ; and one must let his lips, cracked and 
blistered with the sun, and his face, punctured with 



206 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



mosquitoes and other insects, be touched by this limpid 
wash, before he can estimate its energy. 

Its buoyancy is also well known, but one must swim 
through its heavy waters to realise the novel sensation of 
being unable to sink. The first attempt to swim never 
fails to produce shouts of laughter — a dangerous levity, as 
giving admission to the water by the lips. The moment 
we breast its waves, we are astonished to find our feet 
flying up to the surface, and all our old ideas of equili- 
brium vanish. The most comfortable attitude is either 
floating on the back, or sitting in the water with a gentle 
movement of the hands to balance our water-seat ; and 
then the ease, quiet, and composure with which our object 
can be accomplished inaugurates a new idea in aquatics. 
Some travellers tell us that they have dived or attempted 
to dive into these depths. The very idea would have 
terrified me ! 

I felt uneasy once when losing connection with terra 
firma, and had a vision of a depth of possibly 1,300 feet, 
near if not beneath me. Might not the edge of the abyss 
be but a few yards off? And the idea of hanging over 
such a precipice, with who knows what below, was 
enough to make one look to the pebbles at his feet for 
comfort. Besides, I did not see how anybody with only 
hands for paddles, and without the help of a screw, could 
ever force his way through those lea'den depths. We en- 
joyed our bath exceedingly, felt much refreshed by it, and 
did not find the pungent effect of the water on the skin 
peculiarly disagreeable. 



THE DEAD SEA. 



207 



In riding along its shore before ascending the hills, we 
were struck by the appearance of an island near its 
western end. I remarked how strange it was that no 
such island was noted in any map. " It must be mirage," 
we said. Yet surely no mirage could create an island so 
clear and well-defined as that! But being on our guard 
against deception, we rejected the evidence of sense, and 
fell back on faith in the map. There was no island ; 
but had there been one it could not have been more 
distinct. 

The ride to Mar Saba was long and tedious. We were, 
I think, about eleven hours on horseback from the time 
we left Ain es Sultan until we reached the monastery. 
Travellers in the East will smile at this. But I did not. 
smile, except grimly. I never was exposed, except once 
in the far West, to such oppressive heat, and we had no 
shelter of any kind. But I had fortunately a noble horse, 
which ambled along with a brave unfaltering step. I 
wish he could have known how much I pitied him, and 
how fully I appreciated the unselfish manner in which he 
did his work. 

The scenery was altogether different from anything 
I had ever seen in my life or ever expect to see again. 
It realised all that can be imagined of a dry and parched 
land. 

We did not meet a human being. The silence was 
broken only, as I rode alone ahead, by the beat of the 
horse's hoofs and his strong breathing under the swelter- 
ing heat. A glare of light streamed from earth and sky.. 



*208 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 

We crossed dry plains, and ascended along the narrow 
path which zigzags up and up to the summit of the ridge. 
Everywhere desolation, as if the fire of heaven had 
scorched the rocks, and ten thousand furious torrents had 
denuded the valleys, and left great white mounds and 
peaks of clay and limestone, like a series of gigantic cones, 
along the hillside. I have no distinct ideas of the jour- 
ney beyond impressions of heat, glare, and dreariness, of 
bare rocks, narrow paths, deep ravines, valleys bare and 
wild as might be seen in the depths of an ocean along 
which icebergs had ploughed their way, tossing down hills 
of debris, to be moulded into fantastic forms by the roaring 
tides or whirlpools. More definite pictures my memory 
does not retain. 

That one day of life in the wilderness quite satisfied my 
fancy. But my memory does retain with more distinct 
clearness the satisfaction which I experienced when about 
sunset we went pacing along the edge of the Kidron 
gorge, and knew that Mar Saba was near. 

The approach to this famous old place is along one of 
the most picturesque paths in Palestine, or indeed in any 
country. The Kidron, with the help no doubt of earth- 
quakes, has cut for itself during long ages a tortuous 
course several hundred feet deep. The rocks which rise 
from its bed in sheer precipices are so close at the top 
that a one-arched bridge could span them. This deep 
ravine winds along like a huge railway cutting until it 
reaches the Monastery. 

That wonderful building, the hospice of pilgrims during 



THE MONASTERY OF MAE SABa. 209 

many centuries, had its origin with the hermits — tradition 
says to the number of 15,000 — who once sought refuge 
from persecution in this place of solitude and defence- 




THE MONASTERY OP MAE. SABA. 



The precipices are full of caves. These were enlarged, 
and fashioned, by the aid of walls closing up apertures 
and connecting jutting strata, into something like houses, 

p 



210 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



or cells rather, by the anchorites. One abode communi- 
cated with another, a hundred feet below or above it, by 
narrow paths and tortuous holes, such as a fox might 
creep through with caution ; and there they lived — God 
alone, who feeds the wild beasts of the desert, knows 
how ! — on herbs and water, nourishing skeleton bodies 
containing strange minds, whose ideas belonged to a 
world of thought we know not of. 

But how can I give an idea of the convent ? Well, 
imagine a cell scooped out between the ledges of those 
rocks, then several others near it, and then a cave en- 
larged into a chapel, and this chapel becoming the parish 
church of the wild glen, and being surrounded by other 
cells and houses built on this ledge of rock, and others 
below on another ledge reached by stairs, and others on 
story below story, and so down the face of the precipice, 
cells and chapels and houses being multiplied, until, from 
the ridge above to the stream below, a beehive has been 
formed, which is finally defended by high walls and two 
strong towers. 

If you can fancy this hanging nest of bees and drones, 
you have an idea of Mar Saba. Its walls protect it from 
the incursions of the Bedouin. It is a haven of repose in 
the wilderness to every pilgrim. It can accommodate hun- 
dreds in its endless honeycombs ; and is the beau ideal of 
a monastery, such as one reads about in tales of the Cru- 
sades and of the middle ages. 

To enter it the traveller requires a letter of introduc- 
tion from the ecclesiastical superior of the monks at J era- 



THE MONASTEKY OF MAR SABA. 21 x 

salem. This we had obtained. A basket to receive it 
was lowered from one of the high towers by a dot repre- 
senting a monk. This form is always gone through, and 
only when the letter is read, and not till theD, is the 
gate opened to pilgrim or traveller. The poor shrivelled, 
dried-up, and half-starved monks were very civil, giving 
us coffee and wine in a comfortable refectory. Those 
who can converse with them say that they are very stupid 
and ignorant. Yet the place seemed to be a very para- 
dise for study, with its repose, wild scenery, solitude, and 
antiquity. 

We saw of course all the sights— such as the skulls of 
10,000 martyrs. Oh, for the brains and eyes, for a few 
minutes only, of one of these, to feel as he felt, and to 
see as he saw ! The wish could not be gratified ; and so 
the skulls taught us nothing which other skulls could not 
impart. 

We encamped outside the monastery. It was a glorious 
night. When all were asleep, I left the tent to enjoy it, 
and also, let me add, to get some water to drink. The 
moonlight, the cool air, the deep shadows of the rocks, 
the silent towers shining in the moonlight, and the 
dreams of the past, made the hour delightful. But a 
prowling jackal or wolf — for there are still many of 
each kind in the neighbourhood — induced me to return 
to my tent, and to forget Mar Saba for a time in 
sleep. 

We had a short ride next day to Jerusalem up the 
Kedron Valley. This is beyond doubt the finest approach 



212 



THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF JERUSALEM. 



to the city, which from it has an elevation and citadel- 
look afforded by no other point of view ; — the wall and 
buildings of the Haram Area rising above the Valley of 
Jehoshaphat, as seen in the view of "En Rogel from the 
South." 



SOUTH FEOM JEKUSALEM. 



SOUTH FEOM JEEUSALEM. 



CHAPTER XY. 



THE HOME OF THE PATEIARCHS. 



TflHERE is one remarkable peculiarity in the Bible, as 



a revelation of God's will to man — or rather of the 
many books which make up the one which we call the 
Bible — that it is a record of historical events, extending 
over thousands of years, all of which occurred in many 
different places, but these principally situated within a 
very small territory. 

Accordingly there is hardly a hill or valley, stream or 
fountain, town or village in Palestine which has not been 
the home of some person or the scene of some event 
known and familiar to the Church of Christ. Every spot 
is consecrated by holy associations. And so in journey- 
ing through the land, we almost every hour visit some 
sacred locality. Thus, for example, in one day's ride 




216 



SOL'TH FEO:i JEEUSALEM. 



south from Jerusalem, after leaving the city by the old 
Jewish tower at the gate of Jaffa, we cross the plain of 
Rephidim, pass close to the tomb of Rachel, visit Beth- 
lehem, drink at the pools of Solomon, stand on the plain 
of 3Iamre and by the well of Abraham, wind among the 
vineyards of Eshcol, and end with Hebron. 

This was our day's ride, and let me tell the reader 
something of what we saw in so brief a journey. 

As to the general aspect of the country, it is beyond 
doubt the least picturesque in Palestine, and, apart from 
associations, does not possess any attractive feature. 
The hills which cluster over this upland plateau are like 
straw beehives, or rather, let me say, like those boys' 
tops which are made to spin by a string wound round 
them, but turned upside down, the grooves for the 
siring representing the encircling ledges of the limestone 
strata, and the peg a ruined tower on the summit. 

Imagine numbers of such hills placed side by side, 
with a narrow deep hollow between them filled with soil, 
their declivities a series of bare shelves of grey rock, — 
the rough path worming its way round about, up and 
clown, with here and there broader intervals of flat land, 
and here and there the hillsides covered with shrubs and 
dwarf oaks, — and you will have some idea of the nature 
of the country between Jerusalem and Hebron. 

In some places, as about Bethlehem, there are olive 
plantations, and signs of rapid improvement. An indus- 
trious population could very soon transform these barren 
hills into terraces rich with '''corn and wine." Were 



THE HOME OF THE PATEIAECHS. 217 

these limestone ledges once more provided with walls, to 
prevent the soil being washed down into the valley by 
the rain floods, and were fresh soil carried up from the 
hollows, where it must lie fathoms deep, magnificent 




A TERRACED SLOPE. 



crops would very soon be produced. It is well known 
also how soon the moisture of the climate would be 
affected by the restoration of the orchards. 

There was always one redeeming feature of the road, 
and that was " the glory of the grass." The flowers gave 



218 



SOUTH FE03I JERUSALEM. 



colour and life to the path wherever they could grow. 
We came upon a large land tortoise crawling among 
them, the only specimen we met with in Palestine. 

Eachel's Tomh was to me very touching. It was just 
where it should have been, — 1 ■ They journeyed from 
Bethel, and there was but a little way to come to Ephrah. 
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrah, 
which is in Bethlehem." That place of burial is an un- 
dying witness to the oneness of our human hearts and of 
our domestic sorrows from the beginning of the world. 
It is this felt unity of our race in soul and spirit, in spite 
of some differences in the body, whether it be in the 
shape of the foot or of the skull, which strengthens our 
faith in the possibility of eternal fellowship among all 
kindreds and nations and tongues. To Rachel, with her 
dying breath naming her boy " the child of sorrow," every 
parent's heart will respond through all time. 

"We passed Bethlehem, but did not visit it until our 
return from Hebron. The " Pools of Solomon " are three 
in number. The largest is 580 feet in length and 236 
feet in breadth. The smallest is 3S0 feet by 207 feet. 
The depth is from 25 to 50 feet. They are interesting as 
being unquestionably grand old " water-works," worthy 
of a highly civilised age, and such as all the Turks put 
together would never think of designing or executing 
now-a-days. And the water is not surpassed. The road 
during a part of the way is alongside the clay pipe which 
conveys the water to Bethlehem, as it did formerly to 
Jerusalem ; and where there happens to be a break the 



THE POOLS OF SOLOMON. 



219 



fresh clear stream is seen gushing along as it did before 
the " works " were repaired by Pontius Pilate. 

Below the Pools is the Yalley of Urtas, which, being 
watered by them and other springs, looks like an 
emerald-green river, of about two miles in length, and 
from 10 to 300 yards in breadth, flowing between high 
banks of barren limestone hills, and winding round their 




Rachel's tomb. 



jutting promontories. Here were once the Gardens of 
Solomon, and no doubt these hills, now so bare, were 
once clothed with the trees and plants about which he 
< < spake." 

It was probably with reference to his labours in this spot 
that he said : — "I made me great works; I buiided me 
houses ; I planted me vineyards ; I made me gardens 



220 



SOUTH FROM JERUSALEM. 



and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of 
fruit : I made me pools of water, to water therewith the 
wood that bringeth forth trees.'' 

And here an attempt is being made to introduce model 
gardens, where converted Jews may support themselves 
by their own industry, instead of trusting to the charity 
which they are necessarily thrown upon when " put out 
of the synagogue." 

About two miles from Hebron we turned off to the left, 
to visit the ruins of an old . church built by Constantine 
round the stump of a terebinth tree, which, according to 
Iradition, was Abraham's oak, and consequently marked 
the spot where he pitched his tent on the plain of Mamre, 
or "of the oak." 

The old stump had become an object of superstition, 
and attracted crowds ; so the Emperor Constantine, to 
counteract this, and to turn the spot to good account, 
built a great basilica around it. We found several feet of 
the waUs of the church remaining, and we could easily 
trace the whole. Three tiers of stone remain at one 
side, some of the stones being upwards of fourteen feet in 
length. 

"If Abraham," remarked one of the party, " had his 
tent near the oak, depend upon it he had a well also. Let 
us get inside the ruins and search." There we found — 
as no doubt other travellers have done, when they sought 
for it — a deep well, encased with stone, and having its 
edges deeply cut by the ropes which were wont to hoist 
the water-buckets, or skins. 



THE HOME OF THE PATRIARCHS. 



221 



I have not the slightest doubt that this was the true 
Mamre, and that it was close to this well that the won- 
drous interview between Abraham and those sent to de- 
stroy Sodom and Gomorrah, recorded in Genesis, took 
place. The scenery of the wady is dull and uninteresting 
in the extreme. But s-uch an event as this sheds around 




Abraham's oak. 

it much of that holy light which more or less invests all 
Palestine. From the lower hills to the east the smoke 
from the doomed cities could be easily seen, although the 
Dead Sea itself lies, too low to be visible. 

Hebron is entered by a road which winds between the 
walls that enclose the vineyards and orchards of Eshcol, 



222 



SOUTH FROM JERUSALEM. 



the grapes of which are still famous. I have been in- 
formed by one who had, he said, made the experiment, 
that even now the best way of carrying a large cluster of 
the grapes of Eshcol is over a long pole, as was done by 
the " spies," — not on account of their weight, but from 
the long tendrils on which they grow giving a cluster a 
greater length than is found m the same number of grapes 
grown elsewhere. 

Eshcol is snugly nestled amidst bare, tame, limestone 
hills, with numerous olive groves clothing their lower 
spurs and the valleys between them. There is no 
" hotel " in the city, but travellers who do not bring 
their tents can be accommodated at the old Lazaretto, 
or, as we were, in a private dwelling. 

The houses are poverty-stricken. The Jewish inha- 
bitants wear dressing-gowns with girdles, and sugar- 
loaf hats, curl their hair in tiny ringlets, and have 
soft white faces, giving one the impression of great 
effeminacy. 

Our host was a Jew. His house was situated and 
arranged in a way which at once suggested the idea of 
liability to attack, and of the necessity of providing for 
defence. T\ T e first passed from the street by a narrow pas- 
sage, which one broad-shouldered man might almost have 
filled up with his own person; then along narrow tortuous 
windings, which could be easily defended by a few against 
many. Three or four steps led up to the narrow door of 
the house, which was situated in the deep recesses of 
alleys and back courts. 



HEBEON. 



223 



The entrance -hall was a sleeping apartment with divans 
on each side ; from it a second series of steps and another 
narrow door led to the kitchen. From this a stair as- 
cended to the flat roof. On the left, a few steps led from 
the kitchen to a small room, round which we found our 
couches spread. The house thus possessed a succession 
of strongholds before the roof was reached, which was 
itself a citadel. The windows of our room had frames and 
shutters, but no glass, which afforded us at least ample 
ventilation. We provided of course our own food. The 
night was tolerably cool, and so, in despite of the howl- 
ings of jackals without, and the attacks of insects com- 
mon to Jew and Gentile within, we slept, as usual, 
profoundly. 

There is certainly no town in Palestine which is so 
associated with early patriarchal history as Hebron. It 
has other associations no doubfc, stirring and curious 
enough. For example, those connected with its early 
inhabitants, the strange race of giants who struck terror 
into the minds of the unbelieving spies ; and with those 
men of faith, Caleb and Joshua ; as well as with David, 
who reigned here for seven years, during which he pro- 
bably composed some of his immortal Psalms. A present 
existing memento here of David is the great pool — 130 
feet square by 50 deep — where he hanged the assassins of 
Ishbosheth (2 Sam. iv. 4 — 12). There is another pool as 
ancient, but not so large. Still the memories of the 
patriarchs predominate, as this was at once their home, 
if home they had anywhere, and their p]ace of burial. 



224 



SOUTH FRO^I JERUSALEM. 



The oak, or terebinth tree, which is now pointed out 
as Abraham's oak, is indeed a noble tree, twenty-four 
feet in circumference, with stately branches sweeping 
ninety feet round its stem. But it was planted many a 
century after the patriarchs were gathered to then fathers. 

The one spot connected with these ancient fathers 
which is unquestionably authentic is the cave of Mach- 
pelah, now covered by the famous mosque. The Prince 
of Wales, accompanied by Dean Stanley and other 
members of his suite, were the first Christian travellers 
who were permitted to enter it for centuries. The cave 
itself in w\hich their mummies are laid is beneath the 
floor of the Mosque, and, so far as is yet known, has no 
entrance except by a small hole in the floor, which opens- 
into darkness. 

In that mysterious cave no doubt Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob lie. "What a spot of matchless interest ! There is- 
no authentic tomb on earth like it. Nearly 4,000 years 
ago, when earth was young and history just beginning, 
here were buried persons with whose lives and characters 
we are still familiar, whose names God has deigned to 
associate with his own, as the "God of iVbraham, and 
Isaac, and Jacob ; " and whom Jesus has consecrated as 
guests at the great marriage supper of the Lamb. It is 
strange indeed for a Christian to be on the spot where that 
one lies in whose seed all the families of earth have been 
blessed, and who is the father of all who believe ! 

This is the only spot on earth which attracts to it all 
who possess the one creed, " I believe in God." The 



HEBRON^ 



■225 



Moslem guards this place as dear and holy. The Jew 
from every land draws near to it with reverence and 
love, and his kisses have left an impress on its stones. 
Christians of every kindred, and tongue, and creed, visit 
the spot with a reverence equally affectionate. And who 
lies here ? A great king or conqueror ? a man famous 
for his genius or his learning ? No, but an old shepherd 
who pitched his tent 4,000 years ago among these hills, a 
stranger and a pilgrim in the land, and who was known 
only as el-Khalil, " The Friend." By that blessed name 
Abraham was known while he lived ; by that name he is 
remembered where he lies buried ; and by that name the 
city is called after him. And it is when all men through 
faith become with him friends of God, that all shall be 
blessed along with " faithful Abraham.'' 




Q 



SOUTH FKCDI JERUSALEM. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

BETHLEHEM. 

OF all the places in Southern Palestine associated with 
Scripture history, Bethlehem is on the whole the 
most picturesque. 

The three convents attached to the Church of the Na- 
tivity, which crown the summit and the ridge on which 
the village is built, wear the massive and dignified look of 
an old mediaeval fortress. The terraces, which, like 
gigantic stairs, descend to the lower valleys and the small 
alluvial plains and cornfields, have a fine bold sweep, and 
are rich in olives and fruit trees, the shade and verdure of 
w 7 hich relieve the eye from the dazzling glare of the white 
limestone rocks and soil. , 

The hills around are higher, and more varied than those 
which border the upper plateau, the cone of Jebel Fureidis 



BETHLEHEM. 



229 



breaking their otherwise tame outline, and the mountain 
ridge of Moab rising with its noble wall against the east- 
ern horizon. 

The " sacred localities " of Bethlehem are all seen 
under one roof. One can here pace along the oldest 
existing Christian church in the world. It was repaired 
by King Edward IV. of England ; Baldwin was crowned 
in it ; and it was built centuries before by the mother 
of the first Christian emperor. It is a noble structure, 
though it has but scanty ecclesiastical furnishings. In 
spite, therefore, of its roof of English oak, and its grand 
rows of marble pillars, it looks cold, bare, and uncared 
for. 

Beneath this old church, and reached by a number of 
steps cut out of the living rock, is the cave of the Na- 
tivity. Here, surrounded by the usual amount of tinsel 
and tawdry ornament, lamps, altars, and incense, is a 
hollow recess, in which it is alleged the Saviour was born. 

It is possible that this tradition, w r hich can unquestion- 
ably be traced to a very early period, probably the second 
century, is authentic. The fact of cattle being kept in 
caves or grottoes, affording easy access and excellent 
shelter, is sufficiently common even now in Palestine, to 
warrant us in admitting that this cave may have been 
used as a stable. But in spite of all probabilities in its 
favour, I could not associate the Incarnation and Nativity 
with what the eye saw here. The spectacle did not help 
my faith, or even harmonise with it, as did those scenes 
in nature, associated with the life of Jesus, which the 



230 



SOUTH FEOH JEKUSALEM. 



priest has not yet attempted to improve. Bethlehem 
itself — its lovely hills, its very air, with the blue sky over 
all, impressed me infinitely more. 

But it is not, of course, what one sees in Bethlehem 
which imparts to it such overwhelming interest. It is the 
one fact of all facts, the secret of the world's existence 
and of its whole history — the Incarnation. Other events 
indeed are necessarily suggested while sitting under the 
shade of its old olives, gazing in silent meditation on the 
surrounding landscape. From these mountains of Moab 
came Ruth and Naomi. One of those fields, stretching 
like a green landing-place at the foot of the broad stairs 
of cultivated terraces, was the scene of that exquisite 
idyll of Ruth gleaning " amidst the alien corn," which 
sanctifies common life, shedding a glory over every field of 
reapers, like that which rests over the lilies of the field, 
and is greater far than any which Solomon ever knew. 
David himself, first as the shepherd boy, and then as the 
brave chief, seemed again 

" To walk in glory and in joy, 
Following his sheep along the mountain side." 

But these and other memories are lost in the story of 
David's son, born in Bethlehem, u the least of the 
thousands of Judah." 

The imagination gets bewildered in attempting to realise 
the facts connected with the Incarnation. They fill the 
heavens above and the earth below with their glory. We 
instinctively look up to the sky and then to the hills, and 



BETHLEHEM. 



233 



dream of the night when the Angel of the Lord announced 
the birth of Jesus to the humble shepherds somewhere 
hereabout. On that ridge ? on those knolls ? in that 
mountain recess ? In vain we ask ! 

What we do know is, that as the Aurora flashes across 
the midnight of the North, so there once gleamed a 
heavenly host athwart this quiet sky, and filled it with 
the Gloria in excelsis which gives the only true promise 
of the world's redemption from evil, and restoration to 
God's immortal kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. 
"We can never weary of the simple and sublime narra- 
tive : — " And there were in the same country shepherds 
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by 
night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, 
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them : and 
they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 
Fear not : for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born 
this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ 
the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you ; ye shall 
find the babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a 
manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a mul- 
titude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good- 
will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels 
were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds 
said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, 
and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord 
hath made known unto us." 



234 



SOUTH FROM JERUSALEM. 



As we read of these things we ask with surprise, Did 
they actually happen here ? Is this Bethlehem ? 

A remarkable contrast is suggested at Bethlehem be- 
tween the strength of man and " the weakness of God." 
The first attempt to destroy Christianity in the person of 
Christ was here made by King Herod, surnamed the 
Great. He was the type of irresistible human power, 
while the young child was the type of unresisting human 
weakness. But now Herod lies on the summit of Jebel 
Fureidis, or the Frank Mountain, which, like a huge 
monumental tumulus, towers above Bethlehem as if raised 
" in memoriam " of the massacre of the innocents ; while 
the Child ! — but who can describe what he has since 
become on earth and in heaven ! 

Before bidding farewell to Bethlehem and its sacred 
associations, I may describe a commonplace incident 
which befel us on our way from Hebron, as illustrative of 
the supposed danger to which travellers are subjected. 

Mr. M , one of Colonel M— 's party, was riding 

along with me, TVe were far in the rear of the cavalcade, 
which, by the way, included our brave guard. Having 
abundance of time, we were leisurely chatting, and our 
steeds as leisurely walking, when all at once we saw sis 
Arab-looking horsemen galloping towards us. They sud- 
denly dismounted, and forthwith began to load their long 
guns. 

" Hollo ! what does this mean ! " one of us exclaimed. 
Various suggestions were hazarded, the most un- 
pleasant, but most probable, being that an attack waa 



BETHLEHEM. 



235 



about to be made on our baggage, which was at this time 
behind us, and out of sight. 

At once the unknown horsemen charged right clown 
upon us, we of course disdaining to show any signs of 
fear or flight, but gallantly preparing our pistols, notwith- 
standing our being minus both powder and shot. Two of 
the troopers dismounted and demanded backsheesh from 
me. I replied by shaking my head, and begging, with a 
look of poverty and an outstretched hand, the same favour 
from them. Their next demand was for powder — barud, 
I think, was the word. In the meantime I had wound up 
my musical snuff-box, and invited the two highwaymen, 
as I understood them, to receive more peaceful ideas by 
permitting me to lay the box on their heads. The usual 
results followed. There were the delighted expressions 
of " Tayeeb ! tayeeb ! " — with the invariable exhibition of 
beautiful ivory teeth, framed in a most pleasant smile. 
And so we were allowed to depart in peace. 

We afterwards learned that the fierce robbers who thus 
spared our purses and our lives were — a detachment of 
Turkish police ! 

We returned from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Is not 
that one day's ride from Hebron to Jerusalem, via Beth- 
lehem, enough to reward any traveller from England to 
Palestine, even though he should not take another ? 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



THKOUGH CENTBAL PALESTINE. 

CHAPTER XVII. 



EAVING Jerusalem by the Damascus Gate, we soon 



reached the low ridge of Scopus, whence we turned 
our horses' heads to take a last view of " the city of the 
Great King." 

We gazed on the now familiar domes and minarets, 
the gentle swell of the Mount of Olives rising above them 
like the roll of a great sea wave. We felt as if taking 
our last look of a dead parent. It was difficult to tear 
ourselves away, feeling that we should, in all probability, 
see the beloved object no more. Yet there came unde- 
fined and impalpable thoughts of a resurrection — gleams 
of a light beyond the grave — dim visions of a new Jeru- 
salem better than the old — thoughts, not shaped into 
beliefs, of our living to see the land and its city yet 



by Jacob's well. 




240 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



connected with some evolution in the future history of the 
Church. But we had to depart. So at last, with one 
intense gaze which I doubt not ended in the case of us all 
in heartfelt thanksgiving for having been permitted to see 
the city whose "very dust is dear," we resumed our 
journey, to visit other scenes linked with the holy men 
of old and the holy Son of God. 

The road to the north has little interest for the eye, 
until we get into the mountains of Ephraim. It runs 
along the flat watershed of the country, the valleys 
descending from it towards the Jordan on the east, and 
the maritime plain on the west. Our day's journey 
led us by Neby Samwil Gibeah of Saul on to Bireh, or 
Beeroth, where, according to tradition, the parents of 
Jesus first missed their boy, as the small caravan gathered 
together for rest. Then passing Orphan, or Ephraim, to 
which our Lord retired after the raising of Lazarus, 
we reached Bethel, but in that illustrious spot saw 
nothing with the outer eye save stones of confusion and 
emptiness. Huge limestone blocks washed white with 
the rains, without any appearance of verdure among 
them, cover the hill-tops. Yet here, probably where the 
wretched cluster of huts now stand, with the ruined 
tower rising among them, was once the Sanctuary of 
God; and this was the scene of the memorable vision 
afforded to Jacob. 

Soon after passing Bethel we entered the moun- 
tains of Ephraim. The whole character of the land- 
scape suddenly changed. For the first time on our 



BETHEL. 



241 



journey there was scenery worth looking at for its own 
sake. 

The road, however, was the worst we had yet seen, 
if indeed the bed of a torrent can be called a road. It 
was most difficult for our horses to keep their footing, as 
they cautiously felt their way through loose stones and 
over muddy holes concealed by the stream. The pass 
through which we rode was one which few armies would 
attempt to force if bravely defended. It terminated to 
the north in a green flat spot beneath a low wall of 
rocks, called with great propriety " The Bobbers' Foun- 
tain," or Ain-el-Hamareyeh, and which all travellers 
avoid after sunset. 

So we left the Bobbers' Fountain with that prudence 
which is at once moral and agreeable, and reached our 
tents on the high grounds of Sinjil,. after an easy and 
pleasant ride of seven or eight hours. As usual after 
ablutions and dinner, we rejoiced in the stars, for the 
weather was splendid ; and we put a stop for a time to 
the incessant jabber of the Arabs, who came in crowds 
from the neighbouring village, by indulging them with 
music from our inexhaustible box, instead of backsheesh 
from our far from inexhaustible purse. 

Early next day, we sighted Shiloh to the east, but did 
not ride up to it, though it was only half an hour off our 
route. It is a round low hill at the end of a plain, and 
leaning on a more elevated range above it. During many 
a long year the tribes went up to the ark at Shiloh. 
But now all is silence, desolation, and barrenness, wiih 

R 



242 THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 

nothing to be seen, yet much to be learned and re- 
membered. 

As we advanced on our journey, the valleys expanded 
into broader plains, and the paths became better ; the 
whole country of Ephraim evidencing a fertility and 
agricultural richness which cannot be found in the rocky 
fastnesses of Palestine. 

The richest and most magnificent expanse of cultivated 
soil we saw on this journey was the plain of Mukhra, 
which extends for about seven miles. It suddenly burst 
on our view from the summit of a high ridge over which 
our road passed. The promontories of Gerizim and 
Ebal plunge their rocky headlands into it from the west, 
while a range of low hills separates it from the descent 
towards the Jordan on the east. We skirted this plain, 
until we sat down under the shadow of Gerizim, to read 
and to meditate, as pilgrims have done for centuries, at 
Jacob's Well. 

There has never been a doubt entertained by the most 
sceptical or critical traveller regarding the identity of this 
well. Beyond all question it is the one at which our 
Saviour rested as He journeyed along the route which 
travellers generally follow from Jerusalem to Galilee. 
Every feature of the landscape starts into life as we read 
the narrative of His memorable conversation with the 
woman of Samaria : — the plain of cornfields which were 
then as now whitening to the harvest ; the mountain 
rising above, on which the Samaritan temple was built ; 
the neighbouring town of Shechem; the Samaritans 



BY JACOB'S WELL. 



24B 



worshipping, as they still do, towards " this mountain,'* 
and there only ; — all are evidence of its truth, apart from 
the common and unbroken tradition. 

The well is not what we understand by that name. It 
is not a spring of water bubbling up from the earth, nor 
is it reached by an excavation. It is a shaft cut in the 
living rock, about nine feet in diameter, and now upwards 
of seventy feet deep. As an immense quantity of rub- 
bish has fallen into it, the original depth must have been 
much greater, probably twice what it is now. It was 
therefore intended by its first engineer as a reservoir, 
rather than as a means of reaching a spring. 

Then again, if any wall, as some suppose, once sur- 
rounded its mouth, on which the traveller could rest, it is 
now gone. The mouth is funnel shaped, and its sides are 
formed by the rubbish of old buildings, a church having 
once been erected over it. 

"We can descend this funnel, and enter a cave, as it 
were, a few feet below the surface, which is the remains 
of a small dome that once covered the mouth. Descend- 
ing a few feet we perceive in the floor an aperture partly 
covered by a flat stone, and leaving a sufficient space 
through which we can look into darkness. We sent a 
plumb-line down into the water — with which the well 
certainly seemed to be abundantly supplied at the time of 
our visit. 

Many have been puzzled to account for Jacob's 
having dug such a well here, when the whole valley of 
Shechem, only a quarter of an hour's walk off, is more 



244 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



musical with streams than any other in Palestine. But 
some one dug the well, — and who more likely than Jacob, 
not only to have on his own property what was in his 
time more valuable than a private coal mine would be to 
us ; but also for the moral purpose of keeping his family 
and dependants as separate as possible from the depraved 
Shechemites ? 

Why the woman of Samaria should have come here to 
draw water, so far away from the valley and its many 
springs, is a question which may be more difficult to 
answer. I cannot think it could have been because of 
the superior quality of the water, for no cistern could 
afford a purer, cooler, or better quality than that which 
gushes everywhere along the Valley of Nablous. 

It seems to me that her motive was a superstitious one 
— a motive pertaining to her conscience. It was to 
her "a holy well/' such as are frequented in Ireland as 
places of Koman Catholic devotion, or rather superstition. 
She was restless, dissatisfied, and unhappy ; burdened 
with a sense of wrongdoing, and thirsting after what she 
had never found. Thus her whole state of mind in 
coming here to draw water, and her attempt to assuage 
the thirst of her spirit for peace, would be an unconscious 
preparation for her reception of the Saviour's teaching,, 
which was so suited to reveal her plague, and also to heal 
her of it. 

This well is indeed a holy spot. One is glad that the- 
contending ecclesiastical parties in the land have built 
their churches on places which have little historical value,. 



by Jacob's well. 



245 



and that Providence has preserved untouched, and open 
to the eye of heaven, such spots as that on the Mount of 
Olives " over against the Temple," and, above all, Jacob's 
Well. It is now said, however, that the Greek Church 
have purchased it, as the site of a church, for 70,000 
piastres. Universal Christendom, to which it belongs, 
should protest against such " pious " profanation. 

The two parallel ridges of Mount Gerizim and Ebal, 
abruptly terminate in a dead flat plain. The Valley of 
Nablous, the ancient Shechem, leads to the plain as a 
narrow strait to an inland sea. A mile and a-half up 
this valley lies the town, nestled amidst an exuberance 
of foliage — vines, figs, pomegranates, oranges, and every 
fruitful tree, all growing beside inexhaustible streams 
of living water. Nothing in Palestine surpasses the 
picturesqueness of this spot when looked at from any 
of the surrounding heights. In the midst of the white, 
bare, hot hills and plains, it stands alone in its glory 
of fruit and verdure, of running brooks and singing birds. 
Should any one penetrate these groves, however, he 
would find little of the art which helps Nature to pro- 
duce that ideal of the beautiful after which she struggles. 
The grass grows wild, the ground is rough, while tangled 
shrubs and branches mingle with the trees as in a long- 
neglected garden. 

It was here, too, that another event took place full 
of sacred and dramatic interest — the burial of Joseph. 

Nearly five hundred years before the assembling of the 
people by Joshua, Joseph as a young shepherd lad, 



246 



THEOUGH CEXTEAL PALESTINE. 



passed through this plain in search of his brethren. 
What a life was his ! and his influence did not end with 
his death, for though dead he was yet a silent but most 
impressive witness to the people of faith in God and in 
His promises. 

How strange a sight was that body embalmed for 
centuries, carried through the wilderness for forty years 
with the ark of God, and finally buried by that vast 
assemblage, each one a blood relation, in the land of 
promise, and in the very field purchased by his father ! 
What memories must have gathered round his gravel 
How undying is the influence of faith, hope,, and love ! 

This is what we are told of that remarkable funeral : 
" And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel 
brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a 
parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of 
Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of 
silver : and it became the inheritance of the children of 
Joseph." 

There is no reason to doubt that the tomb shown is 
really Joseph's. It remains, like that of his ancestors 
at Hebron, to witness again, it may be, in later ages 
more even than now, to the truth of Bible history. 

But we must not forget the modern Samaritans, whose 
existence invests Nablous with great interest. We pause 
and wonder as we realise the fact of a community, con- 
sisting of only about 150 souls, or forty families, living 
for nearly 3,000 years separate from all other races on 
earth, with their own Pentateuch, ritual, sacrifices, and 



NAB LOUS, ANCIENT SHECHEM. 



249 



worship, and surviving all the changes and revolutions of 
Palestine and of the world. 

Here they are still, worshipping torwards Mount 
Gerizim, having no fellowship with the Jews, keeping all 
the great festivals prescribed by Moses, and eating their 
Passover " on this mountain," the oldest spot for the 
worship of Jehovah on the face of the earth ! Such a 
fact stands alone. 

This undying dogmatism puzzles historians ; this race, 
so noble-looking, yet marrying only in their own small 
community, puzzles ethnographers, and creates in all 
feelings of wonder such as one might experience if in 
some distant land he came upon a breed of Mammoths, or 
Pterodactyles, which everywhere else were known only 
as fossils. To meet "them here especially, at Jacob's 
Well, and under the same delusions as when Christ first 
preached to them and converted many of them, but adds 
to the wonder of a spectacle familiar to every traveller in 
Palestine. 

We ascended Gerizim. It is a rather tough bit of 
climbing. I assigned this alpine occupation to my horse, 
and yet suffered sufficiently, after a day's ride, to sympa- 
thise with his patient but painful labours. 

There is much to interest one on the summit: — the 
scattered ruins ; the massive remains of what some allege 
to have been the old Samaritan Temple, but what others 
say, with I think greater probability, was a Koman fort. 
Then there is the unquestionable site of an old place 
of sacrifice; and the more questionable twelve stones 



250 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



which Joshua brought from the Jordan, but which it 
is now difficult even to number or to distinguish from 
the underlying strata. There is also the trough where 
"the paschal lamb " is yet roasted, some of whose burnt 
bones I gathered. 

We of course visited the famous Samaritan synagogue. 
Our approach to it seemed to us at the time to be by an 
exceptional way. though it is possibly the ordinary road 
to this ancient sanctuary. I cannot recall each turn and 
winding ; but I had a confused impression of an endless 
succession of narrow lanes, low vaulted passages, and 
almost pitch-dark cavernous tunnels, through which we 
were led, until we reached a steep narrow stair leading 
to the roof of a house, from which we passed along to a 
court with an orange-tree growing in it, and thence into 
the small vaulted synagogue, the only place of worship 
of this ancient Church in the whole world. In all this 
we recognised precautions against sudden attacks, such 
as we had noticed in entering our lodgings at Hebron. 

The Samaritans professed to show us their old and 
famous copy of the Pentateuch. This we knew was a 
pious fraud, but we did not take the trouble to contradict 
them, as a sight of the real one can only be obtained 
with great difficulty, and would have simply gratified 
a vain curiosity in us. The old roll is of very high, but 
as yet unknown antiquity. Its possessors allege that it 
was written by the great-grandson of Aaron. 

The morning was glorious when we rode out of 
Nablous. A luxurious atmosphere hung over the gardens, 




THE OLIYE TREE. 



NABLOUS TO SAMARIA. 



258 



and subdued the sharp statuesque lines of the hills. A 
Turkish regiment, with strings of camels, was winding 
through the valley, — their band playing its wild music, 
and giving to the whole scene a true touch of Eastern 
life and barbaric power. We were told that they were 
going away to keep in order (!) some restless and tax- 
hating tribes to the south of Hebron. 

The ride from Nablous to Samaria is along a good 
bridle-path, with pleasant scenery all the way, including a 
view of the upper part of the valley of Nablous, rich, a& 
its lower portion, in abundance of water and fruit and 
flowers. We passed many picturesque village strong- 
holds, like eagles' or rather vultures' nests, built on com- 
manding summits, and having fertile valleys and groves 
of olives at their feet. 

No old city in Palestine had a site so striking, so 
regal-looking, as the "hill of Samaria." It is a shapely 
hill, rising at the end of a fine valley, and moulded into 
a fitting platform for a great temple. On all sides it is 
circled by noble terraces, which must have once borne 
splendid wreaths of vines and olives, furnishing wine and 
oil in abundance to its luxurious inhabitants. 

The summit of the hill is flat, and was evidently 
levelled for the site of the public buildings which occu- 
pied it from the days of Baal and Ahab to those of 
Augustus and Herod. Fifteen columns rear their solitary 
heads on this flat, though it is uncertain to what building 
they belonged, or for what object they and their now 
fallen brethren were reared. 



254 THEOUGH CENTEAL PALESTINE. 

It is when standing on this level that we can appreciate 
Omri's taste in making Samaria the site of his capital. 
The surrounding hills, plains, and valleys teem with every 
product of the soil. 




REMAINS OF COLOXXADE. 



Here there are very striking remains of a magnificent 
colonnade, composed of two ranges of pillars about 50 
feet apart, and which — it is conjectured from the length 
of the terrace on which the sixty pillars yet stand — 



NABLOUS TO SAMARIA. 



255 



must have extended for about 3,000 feet. It was pro- 
bably the work of Herod, who adorned Sebaste. 

There are also the ruins of a noble old church dedi- 
cated to St. John the Baptist. Few things are more sad 
than such ruins in Palestine, as they evidence a time 
when Christianity was so strong, and so hopeful of con- 
tinued strength, that it built churches which put to shame 
most of those reared in later and richer times. 

Close to the church is an old reservoir, which may have 
been the pool in which Ahab washed his bloody chariot. 
But all Samaria is ruins, nothing but ruins ; and never 
were words more true than those which we read aloud 
here: — "Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of 
the field, and as plantings of a vineyard : and I will pour 
down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will dis- 
cover the foundations thereof." 



THEOUGH CENTEAL PALESTINE, 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



FROM THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



FTER leaving Samaria we passed, at some distance 



to the left, a gently swelling hill rising out of the 
plain, called Tell Dothain. Strange that the name of 
Dotlian should still remain attached to this spot ! 

Most willingly should we have turned aside for an 
hour to visit the place where that story of Joseph and his 
brethren began to unfold itself, which for ages has been 
read with breathless interest by the young child and the 
aged saint, and where also that wondrous scene occurred 
for the account of which I refer my readers to 2 Kings 
vi. 8 — 23. But we were prevented by that want so com- 
mon in a world where men's lives are short — the want of 
time. 




FROM THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



257 



It is worth noticing, however, that the caravans from 
Gilead to Egypt still enter the hill country at Dothan, 
passing thence to the maritime plain by Gaza. I have 
never heard that the pit into which Joseph was let down 
has been discovered. But it is only a few years since the 
locality was identified ; and no doubt our ignorance of it, 
and of many spots associated with caves, rocks, and other 
unchanged features of the country, would to a large 
extent be dispelled, if such a society as that which has 
been formed for the exploration of Palestine were liberally 
encouraged. 

Our next halt was at Jenin (the ancient Engannim of 
Joshua xxi. 29), and there, on a grassy field, with a 
sparkling stream of water rushing past, we pitched our 
tents. Unseen frogs, more numerous than could be 
accommodated in the grand orchestra of the Crystal 
Palace, croaked a concert all night long. 

The village of Jenin rose above us ; but we did not 
visit the dishonest and disorderly settlement, having 
been advised to give it what sailors call " a wide 
berth." 

We were a strong party, and showed our sense of 
security by adding to the brilliancy of the moon the 
light of a few Koman candles, whose loud reports and 
starry rays impressed the Arabs with some respect for 
our power. So at least we fondly believed although 
it was as well that they did not put our strength to the 
proof. 

Jenin is on the edge of the great plain of Esdraelon 
s 



253 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



which we had to cross on our way to Nazareth. What 
a strange " Blue Book" of Turkish rule is this same 
plain of Esdraelon ! It is one of the most fertile in the 
world. It might present such a scene of peasant pros- 
perity, comfort, and happiness as could not be surpassed 
on earth. But instead of this it is a rough uninhabited 
common, and, but for the bounty of Nature — which, with 
never failing patience and charity, returns an hundred- 
fold whatever is here committed to the soil — it would be 
a dreary wilderness. 

Unfortunately there is beyond the Jordan a numerous 
and wide-spread race of scoundrels, who live in tents, 
gallop about on fine horses, brandish spears, fire long 
guns, tell lies, rob their neighbours, and possess no 
virtue under heaven that is not serviceable to then greedy 
pockets or hungry stomachs. Bomance they have none, 
unless it be the romance of plunder. Their " Arabian 
Nights " are but nights of robbery. The Turkish Govern- 
ment, or even a London " Limited " Company possessing 
ordinary sense and enterprise, might, with a dozen rifled 
cannon placed in commanding positions, keep these 
Ishmaelites at bay, and defy them to steal west of the 
Jordan. 

But as things are now managed, the Bedouin make a 
raid as a matter of amusement or profit. They swarm, 
like locusts, from the Hauran, cover the great plain, 
pitch their black tents, feed then camels, gallop their 
horses, reap the crops, shoot the peasants, and then 
return to their lairs beyond the Jordan, to crunch their 



FROM THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



261 



marrow-bones at leisure, with none to molest them or 
make them afraid. 

Our worthy dragoman, Hadji Ali, expressed anxiety to 
see us safely across the Pirate G-ulf. Begging for my 
pistol, he loaded it, and gallantly went ahead as guard 
and scout. 

We pushed on from Jenin towards Jezreel, which is 
about seven miles to the north. On or near the spot 
where Ahab's Palace is likely to have stood, is an 
ancient tower, built I know not when, or by whom. We 
ascended to its upper story, and there, through three 
windows, opening to the east, w T est, and north, obtained 
excellent views of all the interesting portions of the sur- 
rounding landscape. 

Beneath us lay the famous plain — a rolling sea of 
verdure, yet lonely looking, and without inhabitants. 
We saw no villages or huts dotting its surface, not even 
a solitary horseman, but only troops of gazelles galloping 
away into the distance, and some birds of prey, ap- 
parently vultures, wheeling in the sky, and doubtless 
looking out for work from their masters the Bedouin. 
The tower of Jezreel is another of those points of 
view which command a number of famous historical 
places, the sight of which, with their relative positions, 
gives great clearness and vividness to the Bible nar- 
ratives. 

Standing on the tower, we see, through the window 
looking northward, three or four miles off, the range of 
the Little Hermon, with the village of Shunein on one of 



262 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



its slopes. Through the eastern window the view is filled 
up by the rolling ridge of Gilboa. The western window 
opens to the plain vanishing in the distance with the long 
ridge of Carmel, and other hills bounding it to the south, 
and the hills of Galilee to the north. "With map and 
Bible in hand, let us look through these open windows, 
and see how much of the past is recalled and revivified 
by even this one view. 

Through the opening to the north, we see Shunem, 
where dwelt the good Shunamite, whose little humbly- 
furnished chamber in the wall welcomed the great 
prophet "who oft passed by" that way, and who must 
therefore have been familiar with every object which now 
meets our gaze, as well as with many others that have 
passed away. We see at a glance how the afflicted 
mother, with the thoughts of her dead child and of 
"the man of God" in her heart, would cross the plain 
to the range of Carmel, ten or twelve miles off. We also 
see how from its summit the Prophet would see her 
riding over the plain, and how he would have accom- 
panied her back again. 

And Shunem, with Gilboa (seen out of the eastern 
window), recall two great battles familiar to us : — the 
battle of Gideon with the hordes of the Midianites who 
swarmed along the sides of Hermon, and the battle 
of Saul with the Philistines who occupied the same 
position. 

From Gilboa, Gideon with his selected army descended. 
Immediately beneath it we can see the fountain — gleam- 



FROM THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



263 



ing like burnished silver in the sun's rays — where doubt- 
less Gideon had separated the rash and the cowardly 
from his army. Descending at night with his select band 
from these rocky heights, he must have passed the 
narrow valley which lay between him and Shunem. 
Then with three hundred lights suddenly revealed and 
gleaming on every side, as if belonging to a great army, 
and with the piercing war-cry of " The Sword of the 
Lord and of Gideon ! " he fell like a lightning- stroke on 
the sleeping and careless host, who, seized by a panic, 
fled in terror before the pursuing warriors, down the steep 
descent to the fords of the Jordan. 

On the same place, too, the host of the Philistines, 
which made Saul sore afraid, pitched their tents on the 
night before they attacked the king and his son on 
Gilboa. One sees how Saul must have then travelled to 
En-dor. It lies two hours off on the other side of 
Hermon. He must have gone round the right flank 
of the enemy, crossing the shoulder of the hill to reach 
it. One of the most dreary spectacles of human misery 
was that journey to the foul den of the witch of 
En-dor ! 

We see the tall form, bent like a pine-tree beneath the 
midnight storm, but every inch a king in spite of the dis- 
guise, enter the cave in darkness and bow down before 
the deceiving hag. How touching his longing to meet 
Samuel, who had known and loved him in his better 
days ; and his craving desire, however perverted, to 
obtain in his loneliness the sympathy of any spirit, 



264 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



whether alive or dead. And when he sees, or rather 
believes that the wicked impostor sees, the form of his 
old friend, what a wail rises from his broken heart : — 
" I am sore distressed ! The Philistines make war against 
me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me by- 
dreams no more ! " The only parallel to it is the picture 
given by Shakespeare of Richard the Third the night 
before he was slain : — 

u I shall despair : — there is no creature loves me; 
And if I die, no soul shall pity me." 

But Saul was loved by one whom his proud and eager 
ambition dragged down with himself on the bloody 
battle-field; and he was pitied by one who had ever 
reverenced his kingly head, and had dispelled the brood- 
ing darkness from his soul by the cunning minstrelsy of 
the harp. And the sweet singer of Israel has for ever 
invested those sterile hills of Gilboa with a charm, by his 
incomparable lament for Saul and Jonathan, — by the 
womanly love which it breathes for his old friend, and the 
chivalrous generosity, the godlike charity, which it pours 
out in tears over his old enemy : — " Saul and Jonathan 
were pleasant in their lives, and in their death they 
were not divided ! " 

As if to make the scene of that battle-field still more 
complete, the top of the hill of Beth-shaan (now called 
Beisan) rises, like Dumbarton rock, close under the hill 
of Gilboa, and overhangs the valley of the Jordan. To 
the gates of its citadel the bodies of Saul and his three 



FKO:.l THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



2G5 



sons were fastened, until removed by the brave men of 
Jabesh-gilead,* from the opposite side of the Jordan, 
who thus testified their remembrance of the time when 
Saul had delivered them, thirty years before, from the 
Amorites.f 

But the interest and teaching of this old battle-plain 
are not yet exhausted. As we look out of the opposite 
window, towards the south and west, we see to the left a 
long line of low hills which here and there send points 
into the plain, with retiring bays and valleys between, 
and end at the smooth ridge of Mount Carmel. On the 
shore of one of those green bays, seven or eight miles 
off, we see Taanach, and four miles or so beyond, Me- 
giddo, past which "the waters of Megiddo " flow to join 
the Kishon. 

Now it was from Tabor, which is concealed from us 
by the ridge of the Little Hermon, that Barak, at the 
instigation of Deborah, marched about twelve miles 
across the plain from the north, and amidst a storm of 
wind and rain attacked the chariots of Sisera in the 
marshes of the Kishon, and gained that famous victory 
which freed Israel from the terrible thraldom in which 
they had been held by the heathen Canaanites. 

Again we notice from the same window, a few miles off 
in the plain, what looks like a ruin. It is El Fuleh, the 
remains of an old Crusaders' fortress, and famous as the 
scene of the "battle of Mount Tabour," where a French 
force of 3,000 men under Kleber, resisted in square, for 
* 1 Sam. xxxi. 11. f 1 Sara. xi. 3, 4. 



266 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



six hours, a Turkish army of 30,000, half cavalry and 
half infantry. Then they were joined by Napoleon with 
fresh troops, and gained the battle. 

It is strange indeed to have thus connected in the same 
place, battles fought by Barak, Gideon, Saul, and Napo- 
leon ! It is probably from the fact of this place having 
been of old the great battle-field of Palestine, that in the 
book of Revelation it is made the symbol of the mys- 
terious conflict called " the battle of Armageddon M or 
" the city of Megiddo." 

And there are other associations still suggested by the 
landscape. The most tragic and dramatic histories in 
the Old Testament are recalled by the place we stand 
on, and by Carmel in the distance. 

On that height beyond Megiddo, and on a spot which 
with highest probability can be identified, the great Elijah 
met the prophets of Baal in a terrible conflict, God him- 
self testifying to His faithful servant, who apparently wa& 
a solitary witness for His being and character. From that 
spot, twelve miles off, the prophet, borne up by an 
ecstatic fervour at such a crisis in his own life and in the 
life of the nation, ran, amidst the storm of wind and rain, 
before the chariot of Ahab to this Jezreel : — " It came to 
pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with 
clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab 
rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the Lord 
was on Elijah ; and he girded up his loins, and ran before 
Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." 

And to this Jezreel the same Elijah, after having been 



FROM THE TOWER OF JEZREEL. 



267 



threatened by the murderess Jezebel, returned from his 
mysterious and awful journey through the wilderness 
to Horeb. Weak and fearful as a man, but strong 
in God, he came to slay Ahab and Jezebel with the 
sword of his mouth for the murder of poor Naboth. 
" And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, mine 
enemy ? And he answered, I have found thee : because 
thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the 
Lord." 

All these incidents are recalled from the tower of 
Jezreel as we gaze on the several places where they 
occurred. It restores them all with as much vividness 
as the field of Waterloo recalls the events of that great 
battle. But Nature has resumed her quiet reign over 
the hill of Jezreel. All is silent and desolate now ; Baal 
and his worshippers have passed away, and so have the 
calves of Bethel and of Dan. 




THE0UGH CENTEAL PALESTINE. 



'E left Jezreel, crossed the plain, and passed through 



" " Shunem. There are no "great ladies " there now, 
as it is a very squalid village ; nor did its inhabitants 
appear to be descendants of any good Shunamites, male 
or female, for we were pelted with stones when passing 
through. Fortunately, however, the stones were neither 
very large nor very near, serving only to make us quicken 
our pace, and to make Hadji scold in fierce guttural 
Arabic, with pistol in hand. 

The attack was made by a number of boys, from the 
heights, and was doubtless prompted by the universal 
love of mischief peculiar to the young portion of our 
race, rather than by any hatred of Nazarenes peculiar to 
the place. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



NAIN AND NAZARETH. 




NAIN AND NAZAEETH. 



269 



We crossed Hertnon, and found ourselves in a small 
decayed village on the edge of another bay of Esdraelon, 
which rolls between the hills of Galilee and Herrnon to 
the north. 

Hadji Ali recommended us to halt here, as it was an 
excellent place for lunch, having shelter from the heat. 




VIEW FROM HEEMON. 



good water, and above all a friendly sheik, who would 
sell him a good lamb. But the village had attractions to 
us which Hadji knew not of. It was Nain. 

It is poor, confused, and filthy, like every village in 
Palestine, but its situation is very fine, commanding a 
good view of the plain, with the opposite hills, and es- 



270 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



pecially of Tabor, that rises like a noble wooded island 
at the head of the green bay. 

Nain, in the light of the Gospel history, is another of 
those fountains of living water opened up by the Divine 
Saviour, which have flowed through all lands to refresh 
the thirsty. How many widows, for eighteen centuries, 
have been comforted, how many broken hearts soothed 
and healed, by the story of Nain, — by the unsought and 
unexpected sympathy of Jesus, and by His power and 
majesty ! It was here that he commanded those who 
carried the bier of the widow's only son to stop, and said 
to the widow herself, "Weep not," and to her son, 
" Arise ! " and then " delivered him to his mother," the 
most precious gift she could receive, and such as a Divine 
Saviour alone could bestow. 

What has Nineveh or Babylon been to the world in 
comparison with Nain ? And this is the wonder con- 
stantly suggested by the insignificant villages of Palestine, 
that their names have become parts, as it were, of the 
deepest experiences of the noblest persons of every land 
and every age. 

There are many remains of old tombs to the east of 
the village, and one may conjecture that it was as our 
Lord came into the city from Capernaum that He met 
the procession going towards the tomb in that direction. 

We crossed the plain and began to ascend the hills of 
Galilee which rise abruptly from it. The day was un- 
pleasantly hot, and the sun beat on us with a heat more 
fierce than we had hitherto experienced in Palestine. 



NAIN AND NAZARETH. 



271 



The ascent of the mountain, too, was by a wild path, 
which ran for some time along the channel of a torrent. 
There is another path further north, which is shorter, I 
believe, but it is rougher still. The end of our day's 
journey, however, was the early home of Jesus. And 
who would grudge any amount of heat or fatigue when 
pushing on for such a destination ! 

We soon descried the white houses of Nazareth, and 
with an eager inquiring look gazed on the inland basin, 
as I may call it, which, like a green nest, lies concealed 
from the gaze of the outer world among these beautiful 
secluded hills. We entered the town, and held straight 
on by church and convent, until, through narrow crowded 
bazaars and filthy lanes, we reached the further outskirts, 
and found our tents pitched in an olive grove, whose 
venerable trees have sheltered many a traveller. From 
this spot we looked out from the olive grove on the hills 
of Nazareth. I did not visit any church, Greek or Latin. 
I had no wish to see the Holy Place of the Annunciation, 
as pointed out by the Greeks in their church at one end 
of the town, or by the Latins in theirs at the other. I 
was much more anxious to exclude every thought and 
object which could distract my mind when seeking to 
realise this place as the home of Jesus. 

When the sun set I walked, all alone, among the hills. 
The night was illumined by a full moon, which seemed 
to stand out of the sky as if it did not belong to the 
depths of blue beyond. Every object was revealed with 
marvellous clearness ; while the dark shadows from rock 



272 THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 

and tree, from " dell and dingle," with the subdued light 
veiling the bare white limestone, gave not only relief to 
the eye, but added to the beauty and picturesqueness of 
the scene. 

A low undulating ridge of hills encloses the green plain 
that lies like a lake, with Nazareth built on one of its 
shores. I soon reached a point opposite to the town, 
where I sat down, protected from the intrusion of any 
chance traveller or prowler by the deep shadow of a 
tree. 

From thence, amid a silence broken only by the barking 
of the never-silent dogs, I gazed out, feeling painfully, as 
I often did before, the difficulty of " taking it all in." I 
inwardly repeated, " This is Nazareth ! Here — in this 
town — among these hills — Jesus was brought up as a 
child, and was subject to his meek and loving mother, 
' full of grace ; ' here as a boy ' He grew in wisdom and 
in stature ; ' here for many years He laboured as a man 
for his daily bread ; here He lived as an acquaintance, 
neighbour, and friend. For years He gazed on this land- 
scape, and walked along these mountain paths, and wor- 
shipped God among these solitudes, ' nourishing a life 
sublime 1 and far beyond our comprehension. Hither, 
too, He came ' in the Spirit,' after his baptism by water 
and by the Holy Ghost, and his consecration to the 
ministry ; and after that new and mysterious era in his 
hitherto simple and uneventful life, when He was tempted 
by the devil. Here He preached his first sermon in the 
synagogue in which it had hitherto been his 1 custom ' to 



NAZARETH. 



275 



worship and to receive instruction; and here, too, He 
was first rejected — the dark cloud of hate from his 
brethren gathering over his loving soul. And it was on 
one of these rocks that there was a rehearsal of the scene 
at Calvary. Can all this," I asked myself, "be true? 
Was this indeed the theatre of such events as these ? " 

There was nothing very grand in the appearance of the 
place, yet the circumstances under which I saw it pre- 
vented any painful conflict arising in the mind between 
the real and the ideal. The town, with its white walls, 
all gemmed with lights scintillating with singular brilliancy 
in the mountain air, seemed to clasp the rugged hill- side 
like a bracelet gleaming with jewels. Masses of white 
rock shone out from dark recesses. The orchards and 
vineyards below were speckled with patches of bright 
moonlight breaking in among their shadows ; while peace 
and beauty rested over all. 

As I gazed on that insignificant and lowly town, so far 
removed at all times from the busy centres of even pro- 
vincial influence, I remembered how, in the memorable 
sermon preached there to his old acquaintances and kins- 
folk, these words were uttered by Him : — " The Spirit of 
the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to 
preach the gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal 
the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, 
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them 
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the 
Lord ; " and how that same Jesus added, " This day is 
this scripture fulfilled in your ears." I then recalled the 



276 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



previous life of the Man who dared thus to speak : — how 
since his boyhood He had lived, among the people whom 
He then addressed, a life marked by no sign or wonder, 
but only by holiness, which men were too commonplace 
and unholy to see, — a life, too, in its ordinary visible 




FOUNTAIN NEAR NAZARETH. 

aspects so like their own, that when He thus spoke all 
were amazed as if a great king had been suddenly re- 
vealed who had been from childhood among them in 
disguise ; and they asked with astonishment, ' < Is not this 
Joseph's son ? " 



NAZAEETH. 



277 



Recalling this, and contrasting it with all that had since 
sprung up out of the holiest hearts, and all that had been 
accomplished on earth in the name of Jesus, then arose 
again the question put 1,800 years ago : — " Can any good 
thing come out of Nazareth ? " And what reply could I 
then give to it from personal experience, and from the 
light cast upon it by ' 6 the long results of time " ? As a 
minister and member of the Church of Christ, and as a 
representative of a vast multitude on earth, and of a 
greater multitude now before the throne of God, I could 
but say, " Yea ! " As sure as there is a right and wrong, 
as sure as there is a God, the highest good that man can 
possess and enjoy has come to us out of this very 
Nazareth ! 

From an experience tested in every land, in every age, 
in every possible variety of outward and inward circum- 
stances, we know that Jesus of Nazareth has proved 
himself to be what He said He was when He preached 
that first sermon ; we know and can testify that in our 
own spirits He has verily " fulfilled that word " — that He 
has healed our broken hearts, delivered us who were 
captives to sin, restored our sight when blind, and given 
us that light which carries with it its own evidence of 
truth, and enables us to see God, filling our hearts with 
joy and gladness ! This was my reply. 

Next day we ascended the hill above the town, to 
enjoy the view from the famous Wely. There is not in 
Palestine a more commanding or more glorious prospect 
than this. It embraces a landscape which almost takes 



278 



THROUGH CENTRAL PALESTINE. 



in the hills overlooking Jerusalem to the south, and the 
highlands of the north rolling up in crossing ridges and 
increasing in height until crowded by the snows of the 
majestic Hermon. To the west is the Mediterranean 
stretching to the horizon, the brown arms of the bay of 
Acre embracing it where it touches the land ; while to 
the east are the hills of Gilead beyond the Jordan, 
vanishing in the pathless plains of the Hauran. 

Within this circumference every object is full of inte- 
rest. The magnificent plain of Esdraelon lies mapped 
beneath us with its verdant bays, surrounded by famous 
shores. The view also among the hills of Galilee is most 
beautiful, varied as it is by rich inland plains too remote 
for the ravages of the Bedouin, and by picturesque and 
broken knolls clothed with wood, vines, and olives, and 
surrounded by verdant grass and corn-fields. 

There is one bright gem in the centre of all — Cana of 
Galilee — where He, who came eating and drinking, sanc- 
tified for ever the use of all God's gifts, calling none of 
them common or unclean, and the memories of which 
will for ever mingle with the joys of the marriage-feast. 
All around us were the " ruins famed in story," which we 
had seen on the previous day, and one thought was con- 
stantly present, that Jesus must often have gazed upon 
this scene. 



NOETHEEN PALESTINE. 



NOETHEKN PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 

FROM the "Wely " we pursued our journey to Tiberias 
and bade farewell to Nazareth. 
The most striking view on the road is that of the 
famous "Kurun," or ' < Horns of Hattin." The general 
appearance of the hill is this — 




I have applied the word " famous" to these "horns," 
not because of the view either of them or from them, 
though both are striking ; but because they mark the 
traditional Mount of the Beatitudes. 

This tradition has more in its favour than most tra- 



282 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



ditions, as the position of the mountain with reference to 
the Lake of Tiberias in its neighbourhood, and the forma- 
tion of the " horns," reconcile the narrative of the cir- 
cumstances in which " the Sermon" seems to have been 
preached, first from one height, and then from a lower. 
Dr. Stanley says regarding it : — " It is the only height 
seen in this direction from the shores of the Lake of 
Gennesareth. The plain on which it stands is easily 
accessible from the lake, and from that plain to the 
summit is but a few minutes' walk. The platform at the 
lop is evidently suitable for the collection of a multitude, 
and corresponds precisely to the 1 level place' to which 
He would i come down ' as from one of its higher horns 
to address the people. Its situation is central both to 
the peasants of the Galilean hills and the fishermen of 
the Galilean lake, between which it stands, and would 
therefore be a natural resort both to * Jesus and his 
disciples,' when they retired for solitude from the shores 
of the sea, and also to the crowds who assembled ' from 
Galilee, from Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judaea, 
and from beyond Jordan.' " 

It was on these horns also that the last great battle 
of the Crusaders took place. A strange comment this 
on the Beatitudes ! The first and best account of thi3 
famous battle was published by Dr. Robinson. Enough 
for me to tell, that on the 5th of July, 1187, the army 
of noble knights, 2,000 in all, with 8,000 followers, drew 
up in order of battle around the Horns of Hattin to 
meet the brave and generous Saladeen. The Crusaders 



THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 283 



had behaved in a most treacherous manner to the Mos- 
lems, and had grossly broken their treaty with them. 
Saladeen was more righteous than they. They carried 
&s their rallying banner the true cross from Jerusalem ; 




A CRUSADER. 



but the Moslems had its justice on their side, though not 
its wood. After days of suffering and after many gross 
military mistakes the Crusaders found themselves terribly 
beaten, and all that remained of them on the evening of 



284 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



this awful battle-day gathered on and around the Horns 
of Hattin. King Guy of Lusignan was the centre of the 
group ; around him were the Grand Master of the Knights 
Templars, Eaynald of Chatillon, Humphrey of Turon, 
and the Bishop of Lydda, the latter of whom bore the 




crusaders' arms. 



Holy Cross. All at last were slain or taken prisoners, 
and the Holy Land was lost. 

Few know these Crusaders' names now, or care for 
them. They were famous in their day, and had their 
ballads and lady-loves, and were the admired of many a 
pilgrim. But they represented an age that was passing 
away, — an age that had done its work in the world. 
Yet who can see with indifference the spot where that 



THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 



285 



storm of battle roared, amid the gleaming of axes, the 
flashing of swords, the streaming of banners, the loud 
shouts and yells of victory or despair, and know that it 
was the burial-day of the Crusaders, and the triumph for 
a time of the Moslem, without stopping his horse, gazing 
on the scene, sighing, meditating, and then — alas for the 
bathos as well as the pathos of human nature ! — probably 
lighting his cigar ? 

We rode along the upland ridge which ends in a gentle 
ascent leading to the summit of the hills that form the 
western side of Tiberias, and rise about 1,000 feet above 
its waters. In sight of the Lake, another dream of our 
life was realised ! 

Passing round Tiberias, with its many ruins, few 
palms, and great poverty, we reached our tents, which 
we found delightfully pitched on the shore of the Lake, 
and at a safe and pleasant distance from the town. 

The first impressions made upon me by the scenery of 
the Lake of Tiberias are very easily described. Visibly 
it was but a lake, and "nothing more." The east and 
west shores possess very different characters. The eastern 
shore has the same aspect as that of the Dead Sea — the 
same kind of terraced look, as if caused by a series of 
volcanic upheavings, at long intervals. The rounded 
hill-tope and broken grass-covered slopes of the western 
shore certainly wore to me an old familiar look, recalling 
the hills of Moffat, or those round many of the Scotch lakes, 

The general desolation of the shores of the Lake is 
another feature which strikes us. "We see no trees — no 



236 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



white specks of houses — no trace of life — but a dead 
monotony without any variety of outline to give pic- 
turesque interest. The Lake is about fourteen miles 
long, six to seven broad at its centre, and five at Tibe- 
rias. Yet there is no town on its shores but this ruined 
Tiberias ; and so wholly given up to the lawless Bedouin 
is its eastern side that there is danger in landing there 
unless under the protection of some chief, to whom 
liberal backsheesh must be paid. 

Yet this Lake was in our Saviour's days one of the 
busiest scenes in Palestine, with a dozen or more flourish- 
ing towns on its shores — gay palaces giving to it the air 
of wealth and splendour, and a thriving traffic enlivening 
its waters. As Dr, Stanley remarks, "In that busy stir 
of life were the natural elements out of which his future 
disciples were to be formed. Far removed from the 
capital, mingled, as we have seen, with the Gentile races 
of Lebanon and Arabia, the dwellers by the Sea of 
Galilee were free from most of the strong prejudices 
which in the south of Palestine raised a bar to his recep- 
tion. * The people ' in ' the land of Zabulon and Neph- 
thalim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of 
the Gentiles/ had 6 sat in darkness ; ' but from that very 
cause ' they saw ' more clearly ' the great light ' when it 
came : ' to them which sat in the region and the shadow 
of death,' for that very reason c light sprang up ' the more 
readily. He came to 1 preach the Gospel to the poor,' to 
1 the weary and heavy laden ' — to i seek and to save that 
which was lost.' 



THE LAKE OF TIBEKIAS. 



289 



" Where could He find work so readily as in the cease- 
less toil and turmoil of these teeming villages and busy 
waters ? The heathen or half-heathen 6 publicans ' or 
tax-gatherers would be there, sitting by the lake side 6 at 
the receipt of custom.' The ' women who were sinners ' 
would there have come, either from the neighbouring 
Gentile cities, or corrupted by the license of Gentile 
manners. The Eoman soldiers would there be found 
quartered with their slaves, to be near the palaces of the 
Herodian princes, or to repress the turbulence of the 
Galilean peasantry. And the hardy boatmen, filled with 
the faithful and grateful spirit by which that peasantry 
was always distinguished, would supply the energy and 
docility which He needed for His followers. The copious 
fisheries of the lake now assumed a new interest. The 
two boats by the beach ; Simon and Andrew casting 
their nets into the water ; James and John on the shore 
washing and mending their nets ; the i toiling all the 
night and catching nothing ; ' 6 the great multitude of 
fishes so that the net brake ; ' Philip, Andrew, and Simon 
from 6 Bethsaida ' the ' House of Fisheries ; ' the 4 casting 
a hook for the first fish that cometh up ; ' the * net cast 
into the sea, and gathering of every kind ' — all these are 
images which could occur nowhere else in Palestine but 
on this one spot, and which from that one spot have now 
passed into the religious language of the civilised world, 
and in their remotest applications, or even misapplica- 
tions, have converted the nations and shaken the thrones 
of Europe." 



u 



290 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



The town of Tiberias is not certainly very lively to 
look at, though its insect-life has obtained a world-wide 
notoriety. I never entered it, as I more and more felt 
that any supposed gain to my stock of information from 
the spectacles of filth and poverty which I knew it con- 
tained would only be a loss to me in seeking to realise 
the holy past. I therefore saw its walls only, and these 
were so shaken, cracked, and crumbled by the great 
earthquake which occurred in 1857, that their chief 
interest consists in the visible effects of that fearful earth- 
heaving. 

The present town is comparatively modern. The 
ancient one was built by that Herod who " feared John " 
the Baptist, " knowing that he was a just man and a 
holy, and observed him ; and when he heard him, he did 
many things, and heard him gladly." Yet he murdered 
him. It was this same sensual and superstitous tyrant 
to whom Jesus, when He met him face to face for the 
first time on the day of his crucifixion, preached the 
awful sermon of silence; for Herod "questioned with 
Him in many words, but He answered him nothing ! " 

The ruins of the old city are scattered over the space 
between the hills and the Lake to the south, as far as the 
hot baths. Mingled with the shells on the shore are in- 
numerable small bits of what had formed mosaic pave- 
ments. "We easily gathered many specimens. 

"We had hardly reached our tents and got settled in 
them when a boat loaded with Jews pulled past us from 
the baths to the town. The number of people in it sunk 



THE LAKE OP TIBEEIAS. 291 

it to the gunwale, reminding us oddly enough of the little 
boats and tall forms which are represented in [Raphael's 
cartoon of " The Miraculous Draught of Fishes." A 
number of men were standing in it singing and clapping 
their hands in chorus. It was a rather joyous scene, a 
rare thing in these parts. We were told that it was a 
wedding procession. 

There are only two boats on the lake, and we sent a 
messenger to the town to secure one of them for us after 
dark, requesting that some fishermen with their nets 
would accompany it. For other reasons than they 
could conjecture, we were anxious to "go a-fishing." 

They came accordingly, when the stars and moon were 
out in the sky. Friends who had travelled with us from 
Jerusalem accompanied us, and we rowed out on the 
Lake. Few words were spoken, but each had his own 
thoughts, as these rough men cast out their nets for a 
draught, wholly ignorant of other fishermen who long 
ago had done the same. They were thinking only of 
backsheesh, and possibly of our folly in giving it, the 
chances of getting anything where we let down the net 
being so small. 

It is unnecessary to suggest the memories which arose 
as the net was dropped in the calm sea rippling under 
the moonlight ; or as, after encircling a wide space for 
our prey, we ic caught nothing." Were Peter and the 
sons of Zebedee, and the other Apostles, all of whom 
were chosen on the shores of this Lake, just such men as 
these ? Were they such " earthen vessels," made rich 



292 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



only by the treasures of grace with which the Lord filled 
them day by day through his divine teaching ? And if 
not so supernaturally educated and upheld, how have 
such men taught the world, become famous, and given 
names to the innumerable places of Christian worship 
which have been in all lands called after St. Peter, 
St. James, St. J ohn ? The Divine Spirit alone, who filled 
the man Christ Jesus, could have transfigured common- 
place fishermen and publicans into Apostles, and made a 
commonplace lake a theatre of wonders. 

We bathed in the Lake. I mention this otherwise 
trifling fact, as it accidentally made us aware of the 
singular distance to which sounds are conveyed along 
this shore. 

Our party had scattered themselves for convenience, 
and I was alone, when my friends began to converse at 
a considerable distance from me. I was astonished 
beyond measure when, considering the space between us, 
I heard what was spoken in the tones of ordinary con- 
versation. This induced us to continue the experiment 
of talking, which ended in our conviction that, making 
all allowance for the well-known fact of sound being 
conveyed by water, we had never known any place 
where the tones of the voice could be so far heard. Our 
words sounded as in a " whispering gallery." It was 
evident that on this shore a vast multitude might be 
addressed with perfect ease. Tiberias is 400, some say 
600, feet below the level of the sea, and its banks are 
high. Does this account for the clear reverberations ? 



I 



THE LAKE OF TIBEEIAS. 



295 



This Lake is, without question, the most interesting in 
the whole world. There is no part of Palestine, not 
excepting Jerusalem even, which is more associated with 
our Lord's life and teaching. Yet it is impossible to fix 
on a single spot here, as on the Mount of Olives or at 
Jacob's Well, and affirm with certainty that there Jesus 
stood and spoke. His steps cannot be discerned upon 
the deep ; we only know that his holy feet walked over 
these waters, and that his commanding voice calmed 
their stormy waves. He had walked and taught on 
many places along the broad beach which stretches 
between the hills and the sea ; — but where, we cannot 
tell! 

The silence of those lonely hills was often broken by 
his prayers at night, but God's angels alone know the 
spots where he uttered his " strong supplications," or 
those which He watered with his tears. 

Opposite Tiberias is the Wady Fik, with its ancient 
tombs near the road leading to the famous stronghold of 
Gamala, and with steep hills descending into the Lake. 

This is generally admitted to have been the place where 
our Lord healed the Gadarene demoniac. 

Seated on the shore of the Lake, one naturally asks, 
where did that memorable event occur which is recorded 
in the last chapter of St. John's Gospel ? 

The whole scene comes before us as we ponder over 
the events of those few days : — the weary night of toil, 
foreshadowing the labours of the fishers of men — the un- 
expected appearance of the stranger in the shadow of 



296 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



early dawn — the miraculous draught of fishes, a prophecy 
of future ingatherings to the Church of Christ — the instinc- 
tive cry of the beloved Apostle, " it is the Lord" — the 
leap of Peter into the sea at the feet of his Master — the 
humble meal, with such a company as has never since 
met on earth — the reverential silence first broken by our 
Lord — the thrice repeated question addressed in righteous- 
ness and love to him who had thrice denied Him — the all 
in all of that question, which involved the essential prin- 
ciple of Christian life, " Lovest thou me ?" — the all in all 
of the command, which involved the essential rule of 
Christian practice, " Follow thou me " — the duty of those 
anxious about others shown by the reply to the inquiry, 
'•'What shall this man do?" " What is that to thee? 
follow thou me ! " — the announcement of a martyr's death 
made to him, and to him only, who, from fear of death, 
had denied his Lord, conveying the blessed assurance 
that, even in death, Peter would glorify Him ; — and the 
lesson taught to the Church of the untrustworthiness of 
even apostolic traditions, seeing that in the very lifetime 
of the Apostles a false tradition had gone abroad regard- 
ing the death of St. John, the true story being carefully 
reported by the Apostle himself : — all this, and more than 
words can express, is vividly recalled as we sit on this 
shore ; yet it is in vain that we ask, On what precise spot 
did these events take place ? 

But there is no real cause of sorrow in our ignorance of 
such localities. The places where Jesus lived and taught 
were denounced by Him in terrible words. These words 



THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 



297 



have been fulfilled, and the ruins (or rather the complete 
obliteration) of Capernaum once exalted to heaven, in 
whose synagogues his own voice preached to needy souls 
the glorious Gospel, and of Chorazin and Bethsaida, 
typify only the ruin of the souls of those who in any 
place receive not the truth in the love of it. 

The truth itself remains to us, quite independently of 
the mere accidental circumstances of time and place in 
•which it was first spoken ; and the words of Jesus, 
uttered in a few minutes, will ever remain the salt of the 
earth and the light of the world. The " Peace, be still," 
will calm many a storm ; "It is I, be not afraid," will 
bring strength to many an anxious soul ; " Lovest thou 
me ? " will search many a heart ; " Follow thou me," will 
direct many a pilgrim. 

The world will for ever be influenced, and the Church 
of God nourished, by the teaching given beside these 
waters. 



NOETHEKN PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

SAFED. 

ON our inarch to Safed on Saturday morning, we again, 
passed the town of Tiberias, and crossed the slope of 
the steep hill that descends to the portion of the lake 
beyond it. 

This promontory is the southern boundary of the 
famous plain of Gennesareth, -which is three or four miles 
long by about one broad, and skirts the north-west 
corner of the lake. 

In all Palestine there are no three miles more interest--' 
ing. The richness of the plain itself cannot be surpassed, 
though it is only partially and poorly cultivated by a few- 
oppressed and miserable-looking armed peasants. Yet 
the glory of its vegetation, and the splendour of its 



SAFED. 



299 



flowering shrubs, suggest a vast " hothouse," whose walls 
have disappeared, but whose precious exotics remain to 
beautify the earth. Its tropical heat, the excellence of its 
alluvial soil swept down from neighbouring hills through- 
out long ages, the streams of living water that flow 
through it, sufficiently account for its luxuriant fruitful- 
ness. It is bordered by hills of picturesque form, impos- 
ing height, and varied outline. 

A noble gorge (Wady el Hymam), with precipitous 
rocks, descends in one place, while others less wild open 
their green sides and pour in their fresh streams ; and 
the mountain mass topped by Safed rises 3,000 feet above 
all. On this plain, too, and along a line of about seven 
miles north from Midjel, were those populous and thriving 
cities with whose names we are so familiar, and where 
such busy and momentous hours of our Lord's life on 
earth were spent. 

Passing a stream above Khan Minyeh — supposed to 
be Capernaum, in whose synagogue Jesus so often 
taught we began the long and steep ascent to Safed, 
along a path disclosing views really beautiful, and in 
some places actually grand, as in the Wady Leimun, 
where the precipices attain a height of 700 or 800 feet. 

An hour or so before reaching Safed, we were over- 
taken with such a deluge of rain as would have surprised 
even Glasgow and the west of Scotland. It combined 
the " pouring down in buckets " of England, with the 
" even down-pour " of Scotland. Where had our mule- 
teer encamped ? Were our tents floated off, or were they 



800 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



only soaked with water, and our beds and bags and port* 
manteaus reduced to a state of pulp ? 

Hadji Ali, anticipating the worst, wisely suggested 
that we should proceed at once to the only house in the 
city where we were likely to get shelter and tolerable 
accommodation on fair terms. It was the Austrian Consul's. 
We consented to enter any ark, if we could only get out 
of the deluge. So for the Consul's we made, with drip- 
ping horses, dripping hats, dripping clothes, and dripping 
noses. 

We entered the city by the channel of what seemed to 
be the common sewer rushing like a mountain rivulet, 
and halted at the rough steps which led to the door of a 
house, whose outward appearance was characterised by a 
humble disregard of all pretence to architecture, beyond 
what was actually needed to place one rough stone 
upon another, leaving spaces for a door and a few small 
windows. 

The chamber into which we were ushered was suffi- 
ciently cool. It had stone floors and stone-vaulted roof, 
but no furniture, save a Consular coat-of-arms, suspended 
on the wall, and bearing an eagle with two heads, which, 
by the way, seemed much more puzzled, distracted, and 
stupid than any eagle with only one head I have ever 
seen. We found that, although our tents were soaked, 
our luggage and beds were safe. So in a short time 
we managed to give our vault some signs of life and 
comfort. 

Another room into which ours opened was a kitchen — 




BUINS OF A SYNAGOGUE. 



A STOEM IN THE EAST. 



303 



that is, it had a large chimney, and was full of smoke. 
Here Hadji and Nubi spread their mats and cooked our 
victuals, making themselves and us equally comfortable. 
Most thankful were we for our stone retreat, and not the 
less so when Consul Mierolowski presented himself, and 
proved to be a simple-hearted, frank, thoroughly kind 
man. He was delighted to let his lodgings to us, and 
thankful for the storm which had driven us his way. He 
is the only Christian in the place, and very seldom sees 
any civilised Europeans. Travellers, in ordinary circum- 
stances, live in their tents, and pitch them outside the 
town, passing him by. 

Speaking of the rain, he comforted us by remarking, in 
an onhand consular and statistical way, that an earth- 
quake was due about this time, as they generally come 
periodically, and the state of the atmosphere was an 
unmistakable warning. There had been a shock, more- 
over, three days before, which had made all the inhabit- 
ants rush out of their houses ; and it was apt to repeat 
itself, he said, on the third day. "We looked at the 
vaulted roof and stone walls, but said nothing. 

Earthquakes, the reader must understand, have been 
a familiar subject of conversation in Safed since 1837, 
when from two to three thousand persons perished in 
a few minutes. The houses circling the hill — like the 
terraces of the Tower of Babel in the old Bible pictures 
— then fell pell-mell on each other, crushing Jew and 
Mahometan into one mass of dead and dying. 

But as the Consul, in announcing the probable return 



804 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



on this day (not necessarily of such an earthquake as 
would destroy the " Schlupwinkel," as he called Safed, 
but of such a tremor or shock as might throw us out of 
our beds), coolly asked a light for his cigar, exclaiming 
when a few damp lucifers refused their light, " Tausend 
donnerwetter, noch einmal ! " his coolness made us pluck 
up courage and think of dinner. 

The Consul dined with us, and was both intelligent 
and communicative, his German being very good. He 
entertained us with stories about the Jews, and the 
conduct of the Turkish officials towards them, and to- 
wards all whom the Turk can swindle or oppress. " For," 
as he remarked, " these fellows who govern here, such as 
Abdul Kerim Effendi, or Moodir Bey, know not how long 
they may be in circumstances to make money, so they 
must rob as rapidly as possible. They only gather and 
remit the amount of taxes which they bargained for, 
all above that sum which they can cheat the miser- 
able people out of, or force from them, is so much gain 
to their own pockets." 

" For example ? " I said. 

6 i For example ? Well. A Jew not long ago bought 
a piece of ground here, and began to erect a house upon 
it. The Turkish official sent for him and told him that 
one of the workmen had brought to him a bone, dug up 
accidentally from the ground. It was evident therefore 
that some true believer had been buried there, and that 
the house of a Jew could not possibly be erected on so 
holy a spot. The Jew must stop the building. 1 And 



A. STORM IN THE EAST. 



305 



lose all my money ! ' pleaded poor Moses in vain. But 
Moses knew his man, and expressing his deep regret for 
the mistake which he had so unintentionally committed, 
begged to know if a fine, say of 1,000 piastres (that is, a 
bribe of course to the official), for his sin, would be a suffi- 
cient atonement ? 

" The official replied that he would consider. Having 
made up his mind to pocket the money and his orthodoxy, 
he forthwith got a stone cut with a cross upon it, and 
this he ordered to be buried in the supposed Mahometan 
graveyard. The 1,000 piastres being paid in the mean- 
time by the Jew, the Turk assembled some of the ortho- 
dox Gentiles along with the orthodox Jews, and expres- 
sing his doubts regarding the Mahometan origin of the 
bone, and his sincere wish to do justice to the Jew, 
suggested that they should dig and examine the earth 
with care. Soon the stone with the cross was exhumed. 
6 Ah ! ' said the Turk, * I rejoice ! It has been a Christian 
burial place : and what care you or I for the dogs ? 
Proceed with your building ! ' " 

The following was told us by the Austrian Consul : — 
It is the law of the Jewish community that any money 
which enters a holy city belongs to the Rabbis on the 
death of its possessor. Now an Austrian Jew, with his 
son, had lately come, in bad health, to try the virtue of 
the baths at Tiberias. Feeling worse, he removed to the 
town of Tiberias itself, where he died. He left a con- 
siderable sum of money in a belt round his waist, of 
which his son and heir took possession. 

x 



306 



NOETEERN PALESTINE. 



" It is ours ! " said the Eabbis, " for he died in a holy 
city, and his personal property is thereby consecrated to 
holy purposes." 

" It is mine ! " answered the son, w for I am his lawful 
heir by the laws of my country." 

The Eabbis urged, expostulated, threatened, bullied, 
cuffed, — but all in vain. " Eefuse," they said, " and we 
won't bury your father, but shall cast his body into a 
cellar." 

The son remained obdurate. 

" You must then," said the Eabbis, "lodge with your 
father," — and they locked him up in the cellar, in hot 
suffocating weather, with his father's dead body ! 

Next day he was taken out, but still refusing obedience 
he was seized and robbed of all he had. He then fled, 
and, as an Austrian subject, cast himself for protection on 
the Consul, our informant, who got him safely and 
speedily conveyed out of the country, where he ran the 
risk of being assassinated for daring to rebel against the 
Eabbis. The Consul was at this time engaged in seeking 
to get redress. 

Mr. Eogers, our well-known and excellent Consul at 
Damascus, who was formerly in Safed and Jerusalem, 
nformed me afterwards that, upon claiming the property 
of a British Jew who died in Jerusalem, for the behoof 
of his family in England, burial of the body was refused 
by the Eabbis until the property was acknowledged to be 
theirs. This Mr. Eogers resisted, and- determined to get 
the body buried himself. But when about to lower the 



EASTER SUNDAY AT SAFED. 



307 



Jew into his grave, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, so hot 
a fire was opened on the burial party from concealed foes 
on both sides of the valley, that they had to fly for their 
lives, and secure a strong Turkish guard before they 
could accomplish their purpose. 

The day on which we rested at Safed was Easter 
Sunday, and we had divine service, attended both by 
English and American friends, who had more or less 
travelled with us from Jerusalem. In the afternoon we 
walked up to the ruins of the Crusader Castle of Safed, 
which immediately overhangs the town. The great 
earthquake shook and overturned even its rock-like walls, 
and completed the destruction which the Turks and Time 
had long since begun. 

The evening was glorious. A holy Easter calm rested 
on mountain, plain, and sea. The view, too, was magni- 
ficent; and the thought that this was almost our last 
look at Palestine deepened the feeling of sadness with 
which we gazed on the scene which was so holy to us all. 
To the south we saw Tabor, and Gilboa, and Hermon ; 
and beyond them, the hills of Samaria. To the west, 
the long ridge of Bashan lined the sky, dotted with the 
characteristic moundlike remains of extinct volcanoes. 
Beneath us, 3,000 feet down, lay the sea of Tiberias, 
calm as a mirror, shining from its northern end onwards 
to its southern, where we saw the long depression of the 
Ghor leading to the Dead Sea. The plain of Gennesareth, 
and the shore on which Capernaum, Chorazin, and Beth- 
saida must have stood, were mapped out below, the 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



scenes where so many mighty works of love and power 
were done. The longer I gazed on this scene and en- 
deavoured in silence to receive the spirit which it breathed, 
the present became like a dream, and the dreamlike past 
became present. We came away praising God for his mercy 
in giving us such an Easter day ; and praising Him still 
more for giving an Easter day to the whole world by 
which we are " born again to a living hope by the resur- 
rection of Christ from the dead." Next morning we 
began the day's journey that was to take us out of 
Palestine. 




NOETHEBN PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

FKOM SAFED TO MAAS. 

THE night after leaving Safed we encamped at Maas. 
The first portion of our journey was through scenery, 
not only far surpassing anything we had seen in Palestine, 
but such as would attract attention and excite admiration 
if seen amidst the glories of Switzerland itself. 

The road which we followed during part of the day 
passed through extensive forests, luxuriant in spreading 
foliage and carpeted with brilliant flowers, revealing nooks 
of beauty that reminded me of the natural woods clothing 
some of our Highland hills and glens. There were many 
devious and perplexing paths, one of which was followed 
by our ardent flower-gatherer, and which, perhaps for the 
first time in his life, led him astray. It was some time 



310 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



before he was recovered by the habitual wanderer, 
Meeki. 

We rode along the summit of a ridge running north 
and south. Suddenly, when emerging from the forest 
into one of its open glades, a scene of great beauty burst 
upon us. The ridge on which we stood descended for at 
least 2,000 feet in a series of plains, green with crops, 
and clothed with underwood ; until the hill-side rested on 
the dead flat valley which extends for twenty miles from 
the Lake of Tiberias to the roots of Hermon. This plain 
is occupied by a marsh, through which the Jordan flows 
into Lake Huleh, or Merom, which lay beneath us far 
down, — a bright eye, fringed with a broad circle of reeds, 
like eyelashes. 

The situation of the ancient Kadesh Naphtali on the 
same ridge is very beautiful. I do not remember having 
seen such noble olives elsewhere. One which I measured 
was about 18 feet in circumference. The remains of 
columns, sarcophagi, and buildings— whether Jewish or 
Eoman, I know not — are numerous and impressive. 
Kadesh was one of the cities of refuge, and it was com- 
forting to think of even the temporary rest and peace 
that many a poor prodigal got by frying to it. It was 
also the birth-place of Barak ; and nobly did its 10,000 
Highlanders second their chief in his brave attack on 
Sisera, when the more comfortable Lowlanders kept to 
their fertile fields or profitable shipping. 

Joshua also penetrated these inland solitudes when he 
fought the battle of Merom — -just as the brave Montrose, 



FEOM SAFED TO MAAS. 



811 



who, fighting for a worse cause, entered our West High- 
land fastnesses, and by his very daring secured the 
victory. 

Here, too, Sisera was slain in the tent of Jael — a vile, 
treacherous act, done by a bold, enthusiastic, ignorant, 
well-meaning woman, and an act which we cannot but 
condemn, even when feeling no pity whatever for the 
brave but tyrannical Canaanite Cateran whose death 
restored to liberty thousands better than himself. 

On our journey this day we passed a settlement of 
Zouaves from Algeria. It is on the side of a most 
romantic glen, near a hill which Dr. Eobinson supposes 
to have been the site of the capital of Hazor. It was 
curious to see this village, inhabited by men who have 
come all this distance from their homes rather than 
submit to the French. It is probable that they had 
" compromised themselves" by a too great devotion to 
their country. But I was glad to see that they appear 
to have a most comfortable " location," and to be very 
prosperous in sheep, goats, and cattle. 

I must also mention an incident of this day which 
greatly touched us. 

After passing through a prettily situated village — I 
forget its name — we came upon a rather excited crowd, 
composed chiefly of women, who were weeping and 
wringing their hands, as they accompanied our cavalcade 
of muleteers. 

We discovered, on inquiry, that one of Meeki's servants 
— unfortunate wretch ! — was a native of the village ; and 



312 



NORTHERN PALESTINE. 



that the chief mourners on the present occasion were his 
mother and sisters, who had received him with joy, and, 
as the phrase is, " pressed him to their bosoms," as he 
suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in the old home. 
The excitement in the village, the honest tears of the 
women as they gazed after our lad, the eagerness with 
which relations and old companions accompanied him 
some way on the journey, I confess, " did my heart 
good." I was thankful for such evidences of the love 
which exists everywhere (in some hearts) and makes us 
all akin. 

The object of all this tender solicitude was a remarkably 
nice youth, whose character might be summed up thus, 
" good-looking, active, and obliging " — a wonderful con- 
trast to Meeki ! I heartily expressed my sympathy with 
him by giving him the handsome backsheesh of a paper of 
good needles, some excellent thread, some artistic buttons, 
and a pair of glittering steel scissors, all of which I 
begged him to present, with my love of course, to his 
amiable and affectionate mother and sisters. The muleteer 
gratefully received, and, as they say of the reply to all 
toasts, eloquently acknowledged, the gift, and the manner 
in which it was conveyed. 

But my subject changes, and with it my thoughts. 
When opposite Hermon I could not forget that this 
magnificent mountain, which towers over Palestine, and 
whose pure and eternal snows join its landscape to the 
sky, was the scene of the transfiguration of our Lord. 

I was thankful, when passing out of Palestine, to be 



IN GALILEE. 



313 



able to associate with this the last and most sublime view 
from its sacred soil, one of the most impressive events 
which occurred in the history of Him whose life is the 
light of the whole land. 

That transfiguration, like Hermon, almost seems alone 
in its grandeur. It first of all united the old dispensation 
with the new. For Moses the representative of the law, 
and Elijah the representative of the prophets, appeared 
with Jesus in glory, and thus witnessed to Him who had 
fulfilled both the law and the prophets. Their work was 
finished. The stars which had illumined the old night 
were lost in the blaze of this risen Sun. A voice from 
the Shekinah now said, to Jew and Gentile: — " This is 
my beloved Son — hear Him" Moses and Elias therefore 
depart, and leave the disciples with Jesus alone. Hence- 
forth He was to be all in all. 

Hermon, as connecting Palestine geographically with 
the Gentile world beyond, was a fitting place for such a 
revelation of Jesus, in whom alone Jew and Gentile were 
to become one. 

The transfiguration also united this world with the 
next. Moses and Elias had been in glory for many 
centuries, yet they remained the same identical persons, 
retained the same names, and spoke the same language, 
as when on earth. A most comforting thought to us ! 
For while Christ will " change our vile bodies, and 
fashion them like unto his glorious body," yet to our 
human hearts it allays many fears, and answers many 
questionings, to know that we shall for ever be the same 



314 



N0RTHEKN PALESTINE. 



persons; preserving our individual characteristics— all 
that is imperfect excepted ; retaining possibly our old 
names and old language, as Moses and Elias did ; any- 
how, that we shall know prophets and apostles, and our 
own dear ones, even as we are known of them. 

This thought makes parting from friends endurable, 
" which else would break the heart." How soothing 
to be assured that as certain as Jesus on the sides of 
Hermon conversed with Moses and Elias from heaven, 
and with Peter, James, and John from earth, so all who 
are united to the One Lord are united to each other ; and 
that, though we cannot make enduring tabernacles, or 
abide in any place, here below with our friends, however 
clear, we shall yet in spirit, in heaven and earth, live 
together with Christ and his whole Church. The Death 
which Christ accomplished at Jerusalem, the only subject, 
as far as we know, of converse between Him and those 
heavenly visitants on this day of triumph, is the pledge of 
this very blessing. 

And when in leaving Palestine a feeling of despondency 
deepened the fear as to our ever joining that grand army 
— the traces of whose conflicts and triumphs we had been 
following with such eager interest — Hermon once more 
supplied us with comfort, refreshing as its own dews, not 
only from faith in that Death which He has " accom- 
plished at Jerusalem," but from the story of that dis- 
tressed parent, who, disappointed in all other men, had 
brought his child to Jesus as He descended from the 
mount, and cried, with mingled hope and doubt, " If 



OUT OF PALESTINE . 



315 



thou canst do anything for us, help us! " Oh, blessed 
reply ! " If thou canst believe ! " As if He had said, 
There is no barrier in me — only in thyself. Believe and 
live ! Oh, blessed confession and prayer, which were 
accepted and answered: — "Lord, I believe; help thou 
mine unbelief." With this prayer in my heart I turned 
away from Hermon, though not from its undying 
memories. 

The river Litany is as impetuous as a glacier stream, 
without a calm pool, or rippling ford. But we had a 
good old bridge to cross by, which saved us from all 
danger and trouble. High above to the left, on the top of 
a grand precipice washed by the raging stream, are the 
magnificent ruins of the Crusader's stronghold, Kelat-el- 
Shukeer (Belfort). There is no ruin on Rhine or Danube 
so imposing. 

"We passed the bridge and were out of Palestine / 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



I 

I 



I 




OUT OF PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TO THE LEBANON. 

TT7E encamped at Nabathieyeh the Lower — our next 
' * stage after Maas. The whole aspect of the country 
was now changed. Groves of mulberries began to cover 
the valleys. The houses of the villages were built more 
substantially, and with some attempts at art. This could 
be easily accounted for by the fact that the country is 
beyond the region which is preyed upon by the Arabs 
of the desert. There being here some security for 
property, there was consequent industry with compara- 
tive comfort. 

At no place did our presence attract greater attention 
than here. Most persons go to Damascus by Banias, 
or pass on to Sidon. The tent of the traveller is not 
so hackneyed therefore at Nabathineyeh as elsewhere. 



820 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



Crowds accordingly gathered round it, sitting in a circle 
three deep, the young in front and the old behind, as 
if gazing on wild beasts from another clime ; but all 
were most civil and orderly. As usual, the musical-box 
produced the greatest excitement and interest, as did 
also the performance which I generally added, on the 
Jews' (or jaws' ?) harp. The Arabs are easily amused, 
and seem to have a keen sense of the ludicrous. A clever 
toy, an absurd mask, or whatever excites wonder or 
laughter in children, would stir a whole village, and in 
most cases be a far better passport for a traveller than 
the Sultan's firman or ugly revolvers. Laughter and 
merriment form a better and much more agreeable bond 
of union between the traveller and the " children of the 
desert," old and young, than pomposity and power. 

I never saw so many perfectly beautiful boys and girls 
as here. And this is especially true of the boys of about 
ten or twelve years of age. The symmetry and elegance 
of their features, the exquisitely chiselled nose, lips, and 
chin and the calm lustrous eyes, quite riveted me. One 
boy particularly struck us as possessing a face quite as 
ideal as that of him who, in Hunt's noble picture, repre- 
sents the boy Jesus in the Temple. 

The next day's journey was not very interesting. "We 
wound down to Sidon, among stupid low hills with 
nothing worth looking at which I can remember. 

We were glad to hail the old sea-port at last. As 
we approached it, the air for a considerable distance 
was laden with delicious perfume, which in this case we 



TO THE LEBANON. 



321 



found came from orange-trees in full and glorious blossom. 
I had no idea that the odour of any flowers, even those 
of Araby the Blest, could be carried so far on the 
breeze. 

We spread our carpets among the orange-trees for 
lunch and repose, enjoying the smell and the exquisite 
fragrance from the white masses of blossom overhead. 




6IDOX. 



The whole neighbourhood is one great garden filled with 
every kind of fruit-bearing trees — oranges, figs, almonds, 
lemons, apricots, peaches, pomegranates — to nourish 
which abundant streams of water are supplied from 
Lebanon. 

Our stay unfortunately was short. We had barely 

Y 



822 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



time to visit the old port, within the long line of the 
wall and castle which protect it from the north. As at 
Jaffa, the selection of the place as a harbour was evidently 
determined by a reef of rocks forming a deep lagoon 
within, and defending it from the waves of the outer 
sea. But beyond the usual attractiveness to the eye of 
everything oriental, and the old associations of the place, 
we saw nothing worth noticing, though there must be 
much in the town and neighbourhood. It seems a 
thriving place, and survives in spite of its old wickedness, 
The sinners, not Sidon, have been destroyed — yet how 
has its former glory passed away ! 

Our camping ground for the night was on the river 
Damur, to reach which occupied us five hours from 
Sidon, The road from Sidon to Beyrout is described in 
"Murray" as being " one of the most wearying rides 
in Syria." We did not find it so. The two voices, " one 
of the mountains and the other of the sea," never were 
silent all the way. The " Great Sea " was dashing its 
billows on the sands to our left, along which we often 
rode, while to our right the " goodly Lebanon" con- 
tributed some of its lower ridges broken with rock and 
stream, and clothed with trees. We reached our tents 
about sunset, rather fatigued after our ride; but we 
enjoyed the luxury of a swim in the " salt sea faeme," 
which made us all fresh again. 

The scenery of a considerable portion of the road next 
day on our way to Beyrout was extremely fine. The 
lower ranges of the Lebanon running parallel to the sea, 



THROUGH SIDON TO THE LEBANON. 325 

with their slopes and glens clothed with mulberry and 
fig-trees, and covered by white houses and villages 
high up on their steeps, and with old convents crown- 
ing all, reminded me of the road along the Eiviera, and in 
some places was quite as beautiful. After passing through 
sandy dunes, through large olive groves, and an extensive 
forest of dwarf pines, we entered Beyrout, and found 
ourselves in Basoul's most comfortable hotel, and once 
more in the region of Boots and Waiter, table d'hote* 
and civilisation. 

Here we learned to our surprise that a French com- 
pany had engineered an excellent road to Damascus, a 
distance of about ninety miles, and ran on it a well- 
horsed, well-appointed, comfortable diligence ! No doubt 
this was very different from the poetry of a tent, and 
of a long cavalcade of mules and horses winding among 
the mountains of Lebanon, and along its old historic 
paths. But I must confess that the prosaic and much 
more rapid and comfortable mode of travelling was 
heartily welcomed. 

Seated in the coupe, with six strong horses before it 
to drag us up the Lebanon, we left Beyrout at four 
o'clock in the morning. 

We had a tolerable view of the country as we jogged 
along, at first slowly, up the steep ascent of the Lebanon 
for a few thousand feet, then in full swing down its 
eastern slopes, then briskly across the flat of the Coeie- 
Syrian plains, then another long drag over the shoulder 
of the Anti-Lebanon, until finally, after passing along 



§26 



CUT OF PALESTINE. 



streams and canals, through cultivated fields and rich 
gardens and orchards, with horses trotting and whips 
cracking, we entered Damascus. 

Our hotel — the best " Laconda " — combined the com- 
fort of the West with the picturesqueness of the East. 
The inner court and the fountains open to the skies, 
the balmy air, brilliant bright blue sky, fresh water, 
flowering plants, — all gave it an aspect of comfort and 
luxury which made it a most welcome and unexpected 
retreat. 

Our first expedition in the morning was to a well- 
known spot, the Wely Xasr, half an hour's ride from the 
city. The Wely Nasr is a spot which has been visited 
by every traveller as affording the view, which, once 
seen, will ever be remembered as the finest of the kind on 
earth. 

The one feature which arrests the eye is that wondrous 
oasis, that exuberant foliage of every hue of green, con- 
tributed by various tints of olive, walnut, apricot, poplar, 
and pomegranate. This is interspersed with fields of 
emerald corn, topped here and there by the feathery 
palm, that always witnesses for the clime in which it 
grows ; and with silvery flashes from the streams which 
circulate amidst the " bowery hollows " and through every 
portion of this vast garden, covering a space whose cir- 
cumference is thirty miles, though in the pellucid atmo- 
sphere it seems to embrace but a great park. In the 
midst of this green sea, domes and minarets rise above 
the half-revealed and far-spreading houses and streets, 



BY THE LEBANON TO DAMASCUS. 327 

like line-of-battle ships moored in some inland harbour ; 
while beyond it all is brown rock or plain, hot and sultry- 




ANCIEXT CEDA11S. 



looking, as if beating back in despair the sun's rays that 
attack it with furnace heat. 

Close beside us, and at the bottom of a deep gorge to 
our right, through which we had passed in the diligence, 



328 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



the river Baracla rushed clear and strong ; and parallel 
to it were several narrow deep canals, cut out of the 
rock, which convey the water at different levels to the 
city, gardens, corn fields, and houses, until, having 
blessed the earth and the homes of men, it disappears 
into the lakes and marshes seen in the far distance. 

But it is not alone what the eye sees which gives the 
charm to Damascus. It is impossible to separate the 
glory of any earthly scene from the magic charm with 
which human history invests it ; and Damascus is the 
oldest city on the face of the earth. It remains a solitary 
specimen of worlds passed away : it is like a living type 
of an extinct race of animals. 

It was historical before Abram left Mesopotamia. For 
a period as long as that which intervened between the- 
birth of Christ and the Keformation, it was the capital 
of an independent kingdom. For a period as long as 
from the dawn of the Beformation till the present time^ 
the Kings of Babylon and Persia possessed it. For two 
centuries and a half later the Greeks governed it ; the 
Romans for seven centuries more ; and since their de- 
parture, 1,200 years ago, Saracens and Turks have 
reigned here. The mind gets wearied in attempting to 
measure the long period during which Damascus has 
survived, as if it were destined to mark the beginning 
and end of history, to be at once the first and last city in 
the world ! 

It is remarkable, also, how many distant parts of the 
earth are linked to this sequestered and solitary town. 



BY THE LEBANON TO DAMASCUS. 329 

It is linked to Palestine by many a cruel war. The 
soldiers of King David garrisoned it. Nor can we forget 
how, in connection with Jewish history, there once 
passed out of these gardens on his way to Samaria a 
Commander-in-chief, yet a wretched leper, guided to 
a poor prophet of the Lord in Samaria, by a young, 
unselfish, God-fearing Jewish captive, stronger than 
Naaman in her simple faith and truth ; nor how the same 
man, who went forth with talents of gold and silver and 
goodly raiments as his precious treasures, returned with 
them, but valuing most of all some earth from the land 
whose God had restored him to health ; and thinking 
more of the wild and fierce Jordan than of his own 
Abana and Pharpar. 

Damascus is connected, moreover, with the whole 
Christian world, for somewhere in this plain the Apostle 
Paul, at that time an honest Jewish-Church fanatic, 
under the strong delusion which " believes a lie," and 
thinking he did God a service, was journeying to extir- 
pate by the sword a dangerous heresy which had arisen. 
There, beneath a bright noon-day sun, he spoke with 
Christ, and became " Paul the Apostle," a name for ever 
hallowed in the heart of the Christian Church. 

From Damascus in later years there went forth another 
power than his, an army which penetrated beyond the 
Himalayan, and established a dynasty at Delhi which, 
but as yesterday, after revealing the true and unchanged 
spirit of Islam, was swept away by British bayonets, so 
that at this moment the last rays of the sun which, rising 



330 OUT OF PALESTINE. 

in Damascus, so long shone in India, are setting in the 
person of the last Mogul, who is a transported convict in 
the Andaman Islands. 

From Damascus other conquering bands poured forth 
a stream of flashing scimitars and turbaned heads along 
the Mediterranean ; crossed to Europe ; and but for the 
" hammer" of Charles Martel, verily a judge in Israel 
whose arm was made strong by a merciful God, the 
crescent might have gleamed on the summit of great 
mosques in every European capital. The whole history 
of the city is marvellous, from the days of the soldiers of 
Babylon to the Zouaves of Paris — from early and oft- 
repeated atrocities committed on its inhabitants by suc- 
cessive conquerors down to the late massacre of Chris- 
tians by its own citizens. 

But, strange to say, we cannot associate one great 
action which has blessed the world with any one born 
in Damascus : the associations are all of idolatry, cruelty, 
and bloodshed. Yet Damascus lives on, while the site 
of Capernaum is unknown ! Let the traveller review all 
this strange history as he sits at the Wely gazing on the 
ancient city, and then, ere he goes to rest, himself a 
small link in this chain stretching into the darkness 
of the past, let him thank God that he has seen Damascus. 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



OUE LAST DAYS IN THE EAST. 



E spent a happy day in wandering through the city. 



" I need not attempt to describe its famous bazaars. 
I cannot say that I admired them more than those of 
Cairo, but I thoroughly enjoyed them as a theatre exhibit- 
ing out-of-the-way life, and as at every yard revealing 
such strange oriental groups of human beings gathered 
out of every tribe, such pictures of form and colour, of 
man and beast, of old fantastic buildings, and Arabian- 
Night-looking courts and khans, of shops for every sort of 
ware and for every sort of trade ; such drinks, with ice 
from Lebanon to cool them ; such sweetmeats, the very 
look of which would empty the pockets of all the school- 
boys in Europe ; such antique arms, beautiful cloths, 
dresses, shawls, carpets of every kind and colour, as 




332 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



would tempt the fathers and mothers of the boys to follow 
their example — all this, and more than I can describe, 
kept me in a state of child-like wonder and excitement as 
I moved through the bazaars. 

My old friends the dogs seemed to me to make Damas- 
cus their capital. I was amused at the table d'hote of the 
hotel in hearing a dispute regarding the number of the 
canine race in Damascus. The question, discussed between 
two gentlemen who had for years resided in the city, was 
whether the number of dogs amounted to 200,000 or only 
100,000 or 150,000. Some suggested larger numbers, 
but all agreed that 100,000 did not fully represent the 
grand army, the possibility of being a soldier in which so 
shocked the high-minded Hazael. 

An illustration, moreover, was given of Mahometan 
custom as applied to dogs. The law is, that any one 
accidentally killing another person must pay a fine as 
blood-money to his relations. But can this law apply to 
the killing of a dog ? — not a Christian dog, who is worth- 
less, but a bazaar dog, who is a useful scavenger. It 
must apply to dogs — so say the Damascus police — but 
how ? In this way : — a dog's blood-money is valued at 
sixteen piastres. Well, the murderer of a dog must 
forthwith report his crime to the police. The district in 
which the dog usually resided is then discovered, and 
the murderer must forthwith purchase bread with the 
blood-money ; and as the dog's relatives are very many 
and not easily ascertained, he must divide the bread 
among all the hungry mouths that, backsd by wagging 



OUR LAST DAYS IN THE EAST. 



833 



tails, may wait to receive it. We give this illustration of 
canon, or canine, law as we heard it. 

One object seen in passing along the streets I cannot 
forget, and that was a famous old plane-tree forty feet 
in circumference. There were others less noticeable, 
but adding beauty and shade to the thoroughfares and 
open paths. 

We went along the now dreary and dull " Bazaar 
street, once called " Straight"; which probably repre- 
sents the old street made famous by the history of 
St. Paul. Yet this must have been a stately thorough- 
fare in the time of the Eomans. The remains of pillars 
indicate that a colonnade once ran along each side. The 
old Eoman gate in the south wall, by which the Apostle 
probably entered, now opens to one side only of the old 
street. The central archway, and the other side-gate, 
are both built up. 

Among the " sights " which engaged our attention was 
the great mosque. That we were permitted to penetrate 
into the Holy Place without fear — in spite of some ugly 
looking faqueers from India, who seemed to growl hate 
out of their rags and vermin — indicated a very remark- 
able change in Islam. It arose out of political events 
which those most affected by them could no more under- 
stand than a child can connect the ebb of the tide in an 
inland arm of the sea, with the great ocean beyond or 
with the moon above. 

The well-known American Missionary, Dr. Thompson, 
of Beyrout, told me that he had accompanied the first 



334 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



British Consul into Damascus on horseback. They were 
protected by a strong guard. Before then every 
" Infidel " had been obliged to enter the Holy City bare- 
headed, and on foot ! Every Christian merchant, though 
possessing a fortune, was also compelled to rise in the 
presence of his Mahometan Servant ! Long after this 
and as late as the Crimean War, no one except a Moslem 
could enter the great mosque on pain of death. Yet so 
great is the revolution caused either by the power of 
opinion, or by the fear of foreign bayonets, that, as I 
have said, we walked undisturbed through the mosque, 
simply paying backsheesh — a guinea, I think — to oil the 
consciences of its orthodox guardians. What a change is 
here ! 

We visited what was once the Christian quarter of the 
town. A more impressive sight I never witnessed. Oh 
how different is reading or hearing about any horror 
from actually witnessing it. I often, for example, had 
heard of slavery, and theoretically loathed it. But when 
a mother was once offered me for sale in America, and 
when, with honest tears, she begged me that if I bought 
herself I would buy her child, round which her arms 
were entwined, and not separate them, what was the 
burning shame I felt for a crime to destroy which millions 
of money and hundreds and thousands of lives have not 
in vain been sacrificed ! 

And so, I had heard with sorrow of this massacre, and 
of the undying hate of orthodox and fanatical Islam. Yet 
how much more intense was my sense of this hate when 



OUR LAST DAYS IN THE EAST. 



835 



I saw a large quarter of a great city reduced to powdered 
fragments of stone and lime, and walked through or 
stumbled over street upon street in a chaos of ruin — 
hearing in fancy the loud or stifled _ cries for mercy, and 
the unavailing shout of desperate defence, from nearly 
3,000 Christians, who for a fortnight were being butchered 
in cold blood by these Mahometan demons ! 

That fearful massacre was the true expression of Islam, 
the logical application of its principles. From Delhi to 
Jeddah, wherever it dare reveal itself, its spirit is the 
same. Nor can I agree with those who think that this 
is the last of the massacres. The last sacrifice by Islam 
will be coincident with its last breath ; though there are, 
no doubt, Mahometans whose hearts to some extent 
practically correct their creed, and who are, like many 
other men, better than their beliefs. 

But let me pass to more pleasing topics. We visited 
one or two private houses in Damascus, the Consul's 
among others, to form some idea of the Oriental style of 
domestic architecture. One has no suspicion when pass- 
ing a common plain wall in the street, that on the other 
side of it may be a splendid palace. Every sign of what 
is within seems to be carefully concealed, lest it should 
attract the attention of the mob. A small door and 
narrow passage which might conduct to the obscure home 
of an artisan, lead to a dwelling in which any prince 
might reside. 

Few things struck me so much as the beauty, the 
stateliness, and luxury of these houses. In the centre 



336 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



is a large court, floored with marble. A fine fountain 
sends up its crystal water, and trees fill the air with 
perfume, and cool the ground with their shade. Above 
is the blue sky, with here and there a distant fleecy 
cloud. Into this court the public rooms open — not by 
doors, but by noble archways ! 

If we pass through one of the archways we find our- 
selves in an apartment with its own marble entrance and 
fine fountain, and three high arches, opening into recesses 
on the right and left and in front. The floors are covered 
with rugs elevated above the level of the court. There 
are grand divans along their sides, with windows of 
coloured glass, while exquisite arabesque ornaments, in 
purple, blue, and gold, cover the walls, and high roofs 
with intricate traceries and richest colour. Behind one 
couch we saw a fall of purest water, cooling the air, and 
passing under the floor to reappear in a fountain below. 
I have never seen any mansions which so fully realise the 
idea of a summer residence of perfect beauty. 

How much more might be made of this style amidst 
English scenery, and with an English family to give light 
and comfort to the rooms ! 

Anxious to overtake the Austrian steamer from Beyrout 
to Smyrna, and finding that we might miss her if we 
waited for the diligence, we resolved to post back during 
the night. The only kind of conveyance which is placed 
at the disposal of the traveller is a four-wheeled wag- 
gonette, with roof and curtains, and a seat along each 
side capable of accommodating three persons. We had 



OUR LAST DAYS IN THE EAST. 



339 



two and sometimes three horses, and were driven by a 
tall jet-black Nubian. 

All looked bright and promising for an hour or so after 
we started. Then however the wind began to rise, until 
as we faced it on the ridge of the Anti-Lebanon it blew 
a hurricane, and the rain fell in torrents. I never was 
exposed to such a storm. Very soon the curtains, which 
partially sheltered us, were torn into ribands, and the 
roof did not protect us from the rain, which soon became 
sleet, and blew with a fierce and bitter blast through the 
carriage. We had a strong double umbrella, under which 
we sought shelter for our heads as we spread it behind 
the back of the driver ; but soon the umbrella was also 
shattered and torn. My companion, who was not so 
well rigged as me for the gale, began to suffer greatly 
from the cold ; but as I had fortunately some spare clothes 
in a waterproof bag, I drew a pair of stout trousers over 
his (and he did not find them too tight ! ) a woollen shirt 
was tied over his head ; worsted stockings were supplied 
for gloves, and with one of the long cushions thrown over 
him he was enabled in this picturesque garb to weather 
the tempest. The Nubian showed marvellous endurance, 
as he drove his two-in-hand for thirteen hours. They 
were generally strong cattle, but once or twice they 
stopped, with a disposition to turn tail to the wind, and 
were with difficulty forced to meet it. The Nubian was 
thankful to have some brandy poured over his hands 
when benumbed by the snow on the mountain top at 
midnight. We also, once or twice, when things looked 



MO 



OUT OF PALESTINE. 



very bad, gave the poor fellow some good backsheesh to 
keep up his heart and spirits. Wet, cold and miserable 
though we were, yet the wonderful appearance of the 
landscape at sunrise roused us up. We were then wind- 
ing our way over the Lebanon, and looking across the 
Ccele- Syrian plain to the ridge of Anti-Lebanon. The 
sun, with a red glare, was breaking through the wild rack 
of storm-clouds which were rolling over the mountains. 
Above, to the zenith, they were black as night, but 
gradually passed into a dull grey, and then into a purple, 
that with ragged edges and long detached locks of stream- 
ing hair, swept along the ground, on which ever and anon 
bright sunbeams lighted up green fields or some bit of 
mountain scenery. Had the forests of all Lebanon been 
on fire, and had their smoke, illumined by their flames, 
been driven by a hurricane across the fields and hills, the 
effect could not have been stronger or wilder. 

As we came in sight of the Bay of Beyrout, about nine 
o'clock on Sunday morning, we saw evidences of the 
gale, in a French line-of-battle ship with struck masts, 
rolling her guns under ; while the other vessels, with less 
majesty but with equal discomfort to the crews, seemed 
in danger of rolling their masts over. 

It being thought prudent to delay the sailing of the 
steamer in consequence of the storm, we had a refreshing 
sleep at the hotel. 

The storm moderated, and we had to leave the Syrian 
shore. The foreground of the harbour, with such studies 
of form and colour as cannot be found in Europe ; the 



OUR LAST DAYS IN THE EAST. 



341 



quaint-looking boats, ships, and houses ; and the glorious 
Lebanon rising over the ruined castle or battery that 
shuts in the port from the North, form a rare subject for 
a picture of Eastern life and scenery. I could, like some 
romantic lady, have kissed the old land ere I parted from 
it ; but satisfied with pocketing a pebble from its shore, 
I stepped into the boat, for Northward and Home ! 



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story of the origin of Christianity." 

The Christian World says : — " There is a good deal of fine material in 
the book likely to prove of very great service to an independent, earnest 
and devout mind. Orthodoxy will often stand aghast at its conclusions, 
but sooner or later it mav be compelled to adopt them." 

The Manchester Courier says : — " Mr. Haweis writes about the G-ospels 
in a fresh and instructive fashio i. He does not seek to reconcile contra- 
dictions or to gloss over errors, convinced that Christianity has nothing to 
fear from criticism. If the reader finds a new presentation of facts, he 
will be all the better for such a broadening of his range of ideas." 

In Crown 8vo, cloth, handsomely bound, 3s. 6d. 

Her Loving Heart, 

By Helen Hays. 

" Let those love now, who sever loved before, 
Let those who always loved, now love the more." 

In neat Square 16mo, Is. 

The Hebrew Mother's Mourning. 

The Story of Zarephath and Shunen. 

Addressed to the Bert aved. 

The Aberdeen Journal says : — "Done with piety and much literary 
culture, in four chapters, on Bereavement, Gr ef, Consolation and 
Restoration." 

The Christian Leader s&ys : — "As the fruit of personal experience, the 
author exposes some very common views which have robbed innumerable 
mourners of their deepest consolation." 

The Western Daily Mercury says : — "Full of tenderness and pathos. A 
book that may be placed in the hai ds of a mother suffering from the recent 
loss of a darling child with confidence that it will chasten and console." 



( 11 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



19th Thousand. Crown Svo. 9s. 

Memoir of Norman Macleod, D.D. 

By his brother, Donald Macleod, D.D., one of Her 
Majesty's Chaplains. With portrait and numerous 
illustrations. 

"A really good book. . . . We would venture earnestly to com- 
mend it to the coEsi ieration of the English clergy. . . . Brave and 
tendtr, manful and simp^, pro'oundly su?ceptible of enjoyment, but 
never preferring it to duty ; overflowing with love, yet always chivalrous 
for truth ; full of power, full of lab ur, full of honour, he has died, and 
has bequeathed to u s , for a study which we hope wiU reach far beyond 
the bounds of Lis communion and dtnomina' ion, the portrait of a great 
orator and pastor, and a true and noble-hearted man." — Mr. Gladstone's 
Gleanings. 

" We once more con mend to our readers a work which is a fitting 
monument, erected with the true self- forget fulness of a loving brother 
and a faithful biographer ; and which will leave the abiding impression 
that in Norman Macleod all who kn< w him mourn a devoted, gallant, and 
delightful friend, and his Church and country lost a magnificent champion 
of the good, the noble, and the true." — Times. 

" Dr. Donald Macleod has done his work of compiling his memoir 
of his justly celebrated brother with care and good taste. The introduc- 
tory chapters give an interesting glimpse of a state of life and manners 
that is now well-nigh forgotten." — Pall Mall Gazette. 

" There is in this memoir a sen^e of vivid reality and of close personal 
contact which is a rare quality in this branch of literature." — Saturday 
Review. 

11 A memoir worthy of the subject. It may well do for Scotland 
what Dr. Stanley's 'Life of Arnold' did for England." — Spectator. 

"There is throughout this volume a freedom from cant and senti- 
mentality that is rare in the biography of a popular divixe." — Athenceum. 

M This book is a portrait, and it is so well done that it may be taken 
as an example by writers who have such delicate work in hand. . . . 
That a man so free in thought, so bold in speech, so broad in charity, 
should be at the same time so simply devout, full of all the trembliDgs of 
the tenderest piety, is a lesson and example to us all." — Black ood's 
Magazine. 

* A few copies of the First Edition in 2 vols., demy 8vo, price 24s.. 
can still be had. 



( 12 ) 



CHATtLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D. 

Third Elition. Crown 8 vo. 6s. 

Love the Fulfilling of the Law. 

Extracts from the writings and MSS. of the late Norman 
Macleod, D.D., Selected and Arranged by his daughter, 
A. C, Macleod. 

The Scotsman says : — " These extracts are marked by all that made 
Norman Macleod's writings so wholesome and loveable, by candour, 
liberality, magnanimity, mellow piety, and strong hum in loving-kindness^ 
Miss Macleod has done good work in collecting and arranging these frag- 
ments." 

The Christian Leader says : — l< It is, indeed, a preciou3 volume, contain- 
ing the finest expression of the most exalted moods of its author's mind 
and heart. The tender pathos which pervade? the volume makes it one of 
the most precious books of the kind in our language. This is a book that 
should lie in every library by the side of Norman Macleod's biography." 

The Aberdeen Free Press says : — " The book will bo welcomed in many 
homes as a voice from that ' Au'd Lang Syne' which must alvays gain 
i A glory from its being far.' It is hard to realiie that the writer of these 
pages was once regarded as a very dangerous and unsettling influence. 
One cannot help thinking how many poisoned arrows of misconception 
were driven home into the heart of hica who all the while was pouring; 
forth such just an I gentle thoughts." 

The Nonconformist says : — " They seem to us like the utterances of 
heart in his later days. They have the mellowness of age with the 
vigour of a heart that has kept its youth. These papers are the outcome 
of a large-hearted, clear-headed Christian, in harmony with the widest, 
which is only another way of saying the most Christian thought, of our 
time." 

The Leeds Mercury says : — "It is a pleasant surprise to receive a volume 
of extracts from Dr. Macleod's unpublished papers. Taey do not merely 
recall, they all reflect his own noble confession, 'Let them call me broad.' 
It is a beautiful, wise, and elevating book." 

The Glasgow Daily Mail says : — " We feel as if we were once again in 
the immeliate presence of that noble personality, listening to the strains 
of a voice that never failed to touch the heart. T iere is rich Christian 
nurture in this book : it presents Dr. Micleod in his character of a wise 
and earnest Christian teacher, and his daughter could not possibly have 
pail a finer tribute to her father's memory." 



( 13 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckirgham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D D. 

20th Thousand. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt extra, 3s. 6d. 

The Old Lieutenant and His Son. 

By Norman Macleod, D.D. With Illustrations by 
Maboney. 

" We place ' The Old Lieutenant and his Son ' in the very first rank of 
religious fiction. " — Da ily JVetcs. 

" Beyond any book that we know, this story will tend to produce manly 
kindness and manly piety." 



FROM " THE OLD LIEUTENANT." 

" 'I am going, Neddy.' said the Captain, smiling. 'I always intended 
to go, but was afraid your mother and Babby would hinder me. Your 
mother is admiral ; Babby, commodore. 

" 'Ned, my boy, I mean to present you with my greatest treasure on 
earth. Look at that signature,' he said, handing the slip of paper to his 
son, and looking at him over his gold spectacles in silence. 

"'Nelson ! ' said Ned ; ' and an order by him to you to make certain 
signals.' 

" 'Yes, Ned, an order, and to me, your father ! Now, Ned, I giTe it to 
you as my present, that as you look on it, in storm or sumhine, at home or 
abroad, you may remember that advice, "England expects " — (the Captain 
rose to his feet) — " every man to do his duty," and that ycu may never 
di ; grace your old father by neglecting your duty.' 

'•''Thank you, father ! I will keep it as more prec'ous than gold, for 
your sake, and, whatever happens to me, I hope I will never disgrace you.' 

"'Ned,' continued the Captain, \*ho, as he f-poke, sometimes sat down, 
and sometimes walked a few paces \*ith bis hands behird his back : ' Ned, 
I never had learning ; never could tell you many a thing that was passing 
in my heart ; can't do it now. My words don't run through this block of 
a mouth. Something like a heavy sea stops me when I wish to sail a-head. 
But your mother knows all about it, and she has told you.' Here the 
Captain pointed upwards, — then, taking a large pinch of snuff, turned his 
back to Ned. Bringing himself round again, face to face with his son, he 
said, 'Ned, you must be a better man than your father. You must, Ned, 
do what your mother has taught you ; not what I could teach you, though 
God knows how I love you, Ned ! ' 

"'Father,' said Ned, 'don't speak that way, for it makes me sorry, as 
if you were no 4 : as good a father as ever a fellow had. What did I ever 
see in you but good ? What did I ever get from you but good ? ' 

" 'Do you say so, Ned ? Do you believe that ? Neddy, my boy, my 
only boy, my own, own son, I tell you — to hear that from your lips, — oh ! 
I tell you—' " 



( 14 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 




NED LEAVING HOME. 
(See "The Old Lieutenant and his Son," by Norman Macleod.) 

( 15 ) 



CFAELES BUB NET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
Lcndon : 9, BoeHrgham Street, Strand. 

NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D. 

39th Thoufand. Square 8vo, cloth gilt extra, 2s. 6d. 

The Gold Thread. A Story for the Young. 

By Noeman MacleoDj D.D. AYith Illustrations 
by J. MacWhirter, J. D. Watson, and Gourlay Steel. 

"This is one of the very best children's books in the language." 



FKOM THE PEEFACE. 

;< To My Children, — I dedicate this story to you, because it was for 
ycu I first WTote it, and to you I fiist read it amorg the green hills of 
Moffat. And now you see it again appear as a little book for other 
children, who, I hope, will like it as much as you do. 

" I wish to help and encourage you, and all who read this story, to 
learn the great lesson which it is intended to teach ; that lesson is, hat 
we should always trust God and do what is right, and thus hold fast < ur 
gold thread in spite cf every temptation and danger, being certain that in 
this way only will Gcd lead us in safety and peace to His home. 

11 Now, God gives each of you this gold thread to hold fast in your own 
house or in school, in the nursery or in the play ground, on every day ai.d 
in every place. His voice in your heart, and in His Word, will also tt 11 
you always what is light, if you only listen to it. Y< u, too, will be con- 
stantly tempted in some way cr other to give up your g< Id thread, and to 
be selfish, disobedient; J?zy, or untruthful. Many ttrngs, in short, will 
tempt you to do your o\^n will lather than Gcd's wiL 

" You already know, and I hope you will always love and remember, 
thofe true stories in the Bible about the good men of the olden time, 
whose lives are there written. Xow, what shewed that they were good ? 
It was thie, that they trutted Gid, and did what was right. If they eier 
let this their gold thread go, they lost their v ay and became unhappy; 
but when they held it fast, it lead them in a way of peace and safety. To 
see how true this is, ycu have only to recall such stories as those of 
Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jcshua, Samuel, David and Jonathan, Daniel 
and his three companion?, &c, not to mention the history of Jesus Christ, 
the perfect example for us all." 

( 16 ) 




(See " The Gold Thread," by Norman Macleod, D.D.) 
(17 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D. 

Eighth thousand. Crown 8vo. 6s. 

The Starling. A Scotch Story. 

By Norman Macleod, D.D. With illustrations by W. 
Small and J. Wolf. 

" This is a good story in every sense of the word. The author's 
sympathies are wide and various, and he sees humanity in a thoroughly 
human light. Of other writers some may be as genial, but it is given to 
few to display as easy a command of all the nobler sentiments to which 
this story appeals." — Daily News. 

"Dr. Macleod's stjle is admirable. His keen insight and power of 
analysis enables him to draw real living men and women. In many re- 
spects Dr. Macleod reminds us of George Eliot. He has the same gift, if 
we may so call it, of ventriloquism — of really reporting what people say. 
But above his artistic power, we value the spirit of the tale. Such a story 
as this, with the fine manly character of the Serjeant, ought, in these days 
of vile sensationalism, to be doubly welcomed. We emphatically commend 
it to our readers." — Westminster Review. 



FR M " THE STARLING." 

" Before entering the Serjeant's house he went up to the cage to make 
himself acquainted with all the facts of the case, so as to proceed with it 
regularly. He accordingly put on his spectacles and looked at the bird, 
and the bird, without any spectacles, returned the inquiring gaze with 
most wonderful composure. Walking sideways along his perch, until near 
the minister, he peered at him full in the face, and confessed that he was 
' Charlie's bairn.' Then, after a preliminary /jicand kirr, as if clearing his 
throat, he whistled two bars of the air, ' Wha'll be king but Charlie !' and 
concluding with his aphorism, ' A man's a man for a' that ! ' he whttted 
his beak and retired to feed in the presence of the Church dignitary. ' I 
went up to the cage,' said Mr. Porteou?, contiauiog his narrative, ' and 
narrowly inspected the bird. To my — what shall I call it ? astonishment ? 
or shame and confusion ? — I heard it utter such distinct and articulate 
sounds as convinced rue beyond all possibility of doubt — yet you smile, sir, 

at my statement ! — \hat ' ' Tuts, Adam, it's dreadfu' 1 ' ejaculated 

Katie. 'That the bird,' continued the minister, e mwt have been either 
taught by you, or with your approval; and having so instructed this 
creature, you hang it out on this, the Sabbath morning, to whistle and to 

speak, in order to insult — yes, sir, I use the word advisedly ' ' Xever 

sir !" said the Serjeant, with a calm and fiim voice: 'never, sir, did I 
intentionally insult mortal man.' 6 1 have nothing to do with your in- 
tentions, but with facts ; and the fact is, you did insult, sir, every feeling 
the most sacred, besides injuring the religious habits of the young.' " 



( 18) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 




(See "The Starling," by Norman Macleod.) 
( 19 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
Loi don : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D.D. 

Fifth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 6s. 

Character Sketches. 

By Uoeman Macleod, D.D. With Six Illustrations. 

"They are sure to be most welcome to all who can appreciate a broad, 
genial humanity, mingled with much pathos, and a keen insight into the 
deeper workings of the human soul." — Daily Telegraph. 

M These Sketches are full of vitality, individuality, and interest. 
Readers will be difficult to please if they do not find much to charm in 
their cheery and vigorous pages." — Glasgow Herald. 



CONTENTS. 



Billy Buttons. 

Our Bob. 

Aunt Mary. 

T. T. Fitzroy, Esq. 

Mr. Joseph Walker. 



The Highland Witch. 
The Old Guard. 
The Water Horse. 
A True Ghost Story. 
Job Jacobs and his Boxes. 



Wee Dayie. 



FEOM "BILLY BUTTONS." 

<: Daily he was aired on dec 1 ?, and daily each sailor insisted on having 
the h >nour of carrying him, and it was indeed a sight to see those 
japanned faces chirruping and smirking to the unseen treasure rolled up 
in the blanke\ In a few days the very navigation of the ship was affected 
by the presence of the child. It was not unfrequent to hear such remarks 
as these : 1 1 say, Tom, easy with that rope ' ; or, ■ Don't make such a 
clattering on d=ck ' ; or { Heave in that yard handy, for Billy is sleeping.' 
And. one would express his delight at the fine breeze and the prospect of 
sighting land soon, 'because they wculd get a nurse for Billy ' ; or suggest 
that the reef in the topsails, taken in an hour before, might be shaken 
out, and 1 half a knot more got out of her for Billy.' " 



( 20 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO , PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Str. et, Strand. 




BILLY BUTTONS. 
(See "Character Sketches," by Norman Macleod.) 



( 21 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D D. 

Tenth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 6s. 

Reminiscences of a Highland Parish. 

Br Norman ]\Iacleod, D.D. 




THE MANSE. 

The Scotsman says : — " One of the most refreshing and delightful books 
which can anywhere be found. These pages are redolent of the events, 
and sights, and sounds that haunt the West Highlands. As you read you 
feel the fragrance of the birches and bog-myrtle mingling with the salt 
breezes from the Atlantic. To most readers Dr. Macleod's book will serve 
as an introduction to a manner of life very near them, yet to which 
they are utter strangers. The impression which the book makes is the 
nearest thing possible to the delight of wandering in fine autumn weather 
on the braesides that look forth on the islands and the Atlantic." 

The Saturday Review says : — " A man must be of dull imagination who 
does not obtain the glimpse of a past Arcadia in this description of a 
Western Highland parish. The picture is an enchanting one. It is difficult 
to give an idea of the variety of the book. The account of Rory, so clever 
as a steerman, the chapters on the fools, the Highland legends, the snow- 
storm tales, the fairy fiction called the Spirit of Eld, all breathe the very 
air of the Highlands, and give warmth and life to each picture." 

The Spectator says : — " Dr. Macleod has gathered and preserved some 
sprigs of heather from an ancient Highland home, and it is impossible to 
read this little unpretentious volume without looking back on the progress 
our much-lauded civilization has made during the last fifty years, and 
forward to what it may reasonably be expected to make in the next fifty. 
Like the puzzled child, we feel inclined to give it up. But, unfortunately, 
there is no retreat, the gates of the G-arden of Eden are closed behind 
us, and there is nothing for it but to face the inevitable future." 



( 22 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



NORMAN MACLEOD, D D. 

27th Thousand. Small Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 

The Earnest Student: Memorials of John 

Mackintosh. By Norman Macleod, D.D. 

" Full of the most instructive materials ; no student can peruse it with- 
out being quickened by its example of candour, assiduity, and happy self- 
consecration." — The late James Hamilton, D.D, 

Medium 8vo, cloth, gilt edges. With 70 illustrations. 

Peeps at the Far East. A Familiar Account of 
a Visit to India. By Norman Macleod, D.D. 

55th Thousand. Sewed, 6d. 

Wee Davie. By Norman macleod, d.d. 

"Fraught with the truest poetry, rich in divine philosophy, un- 
approachably the chief among productions of its class — this, and more, is 
the story of 4 Wee Davie.' By all means let every family have a copy of 
Dr. Macleod's inimitable Christian tale, which is as powerful a preacher of 
the Gospel as we have ever encountered." 

Tenth Thousand. Crown 8vo, 3s, 6J. 

Parish Papers. B y Gorman Macleod, d.d. 

Medium 8vo, cloth, gilt edges. With 70 illustrations. 

Eastward! Travels in Egypt, Palestine, 

Syria. By Norman Macleod, D.D. 

Crown 8vo. 5i. 

The Temptation of our Lord. 

By Norman Macleod, D.D. 

How we ean best relieve our deserving Poor. Sewed. 6d. 
Concluding Address to the Assembly of the Church of 

Scotland, 1869. Sewed. 6d. 
War and Judgment. A Sermon preached at Balmoral. Sewed. Is. 

( 23 ) 



CHAELES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHEI S, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand 



JOSEPH PARKER, D D. 

Third Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 

Every Morning. First Thoughts for First Hours. 
By the Eev. Joseph Parker, D.D., City Temple. This 
is a devotional book for daily reading and meditation. 

The Scotsman says : — " Recommended to all who are in need of a well- 
wiitten discipline of prayer." 

The Christian Commonwealth says : — " Ought to take a very high 
rank. Of all book* for each day in the year we have seen nothing equal 
to it." 

The Christian says : — "Lite all that Dr. Paiker writes, it is thought- 
ful, suggestive, practical and original." 

The Bradford Observer says : — "Many cf these meditations are veiy 
beautiful, and calculated to uplift the soul." 

The British Weekly fays : — "Mai y of the piayers and meditations are 
veiy brilliant end suggestive. It is a valuable book." 



THE AUTHOR OF " THE PATHWAY OF PROMISE." 

140th Thousand. 32mo, cloth, red edges, Is. 6d. 

The Pathway of Promise. 

TTords of Comfort to the Christian Pilgrims. 

Fcap. 8vo, cktb, antique, 2s. 6d. 
LARGE TYPE EDITION, uniform with "Able to Save." 

51st Thousand. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, red edges, 2s. 6d. 

Able to Save; Encouragement to Patient Wait- 
ing. By the Author of " The Pathway of Promise," &c. 

23rd Thousand. Ecap. 8vo, cloth, red edges, 2s. 6d. 

The Throne of Grace. 

Thoughts on the Duty, Privilege and Blessedness of 
Prayer. By the Author of " The Pathway of Promise." 

Third Thousand. Fcap. 8vo, paper cover, 6d. 

Loving Counsel. An Address to his Parishioners. 

( 24 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



Crown 8vo, cloth ex f ra, illustrated. 3s. 6cL 

Making the Best of It, or, always do the 
Right, Boys, 

By Edward A. Hand. 



Second Edition. Crown 8\*o, cloth extra, illustrated. 3s. 6d. 

Fighting tha Sea ; or, A Winter at the Life- 
Saving 1 Station. 

By Edward A. Band, Author of "Making the Best of It." 



5th Thousand. Fcap. 8vo, sewed, Is. ; cloth, Is. 6 J. 

The Tricycle in Relation to Health and Re- 
creation. 

By B. W. Richardson, M.D., F.R.S. 

The Field says : — 

" Few men possess a better qualification to discourse upon the value 
of tricycling as a healthy exercise than Dr. Richardson. Not only does 
his professional standing enable us to accept his advdce as the best pro- 
curable, but upon this particular subject he has not been content to rely 
solely upon the results of observation, but has sought personal and practical 
experience by himself adopting the tricycle as a means of recreation, and 
has given to riders generally the results of his experience. 

" Dr. Richardson does not approach the subject from the point of 
view of the athlete or the racing man, his remarks are directed to the 
adaptability of the tricycle to the use of the ordinary run of people, who 
would be inclined to turn to it as a means of recreation, aid who 
would, before embarking upon a nrvel and unusual kin 1 of exercise, be 
anxious to know whether they might safely do so. 

" Dr. Richardson's book is clear and decisive, giving excellent advice 
as to the precautions which those who have not been used t j active physical 
exercise should take to guard against any possible injurious effects. D L \ 
Richardson's advice is of great value to every class of rider, and is as 
applicable to the bicyclist as to the tricyclist, and is more particularly 
useful to those who are novices and not above accepting hints that more 
accomplished riders might pertups ignore. 

"We should strongly aivise all who contemplate taking up this 
popular pastime to peruse ' The Tricycle in Relation to Health and 
Recreation,' which contains a fund of information of a particularly 
va'uable and instructive character." 



(25) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



Author's Editions. Uniform Series. Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. each, 

Dr. Taylor's Bible Biographies. 

Now Ready. In Preparation. 

ELIJAH THE PROPHET. 
DANIEL THE BELOVED. 
DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL. 
PETER THE APOSTLE. 
JOSEPH THE PRIME MINIS 
TER. 



PAUL. 
MOSES. 

RUTH AND ESTHER. 
And Others. 



Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 

Elijah the Prophet, 

By the Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

The British Weekly says : — " There is something so unpretentious, so 
sensible, so practical in Dr. Taylor's expositions of Scripture Biography 
that they cannot fail to be popular." 

The Methodist Recorder says : — " The author has wondrous power in 
seizing on all the leading incidents of the biography — the reader is irresis- 
tibly held enthralled from the beginning to the end of the story." 

The English Presbyterian Messenger says : — " A capital book. Dr. 
Taylor excels in delineation of character, and he puts the incidents of the 
great prophet's life into such vivid relation to his times, that 1 reality ' 
pervades the whole in a most powerful manner." 



Crown Svo, 3s. 6d. 

Daniel the Beloved. 

By the Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

The Christian Commonweal h says : — "Dr. Taylor has already proved 
his right to a first place as an earnest student of the Word of God. 
Daniel is a worthy companion of Peter the Apostle, and of Joseph the Prime 
Minister." 

The Congregational Review says:— "Dr. Taylor brings out the lessons 
of wisdom it contains for men of business and public life." 

Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

David, King of Israel. 

By tire Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

" This is without exception the very best of Dr. Taylor's 
Bible Biographies. It is a most delightful volume, which 
cannot he too widely circulated, or too highly recommended as a 
gift-hook for young people generally. n 



( 26 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, J 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D.D. 

Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 

Peter, the Apostle. 

By the Eev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

The Scotsman says : — " Most valuable as bringing the results of a close 
and learned study within the reach of readers who would be repelled by a 
work of sterner sort." 

The British Weekly says : — " Will meet with a cordial welcome from 
both preachers and hearers." 

The Glasgow Daily Mail says : — " This book is certain to secure a 
large audience all over the English-speaking world." 

The Aberdeen Journal says : — 44 We can heartily recommend the book 
as both instructive and edifying. Dr. Taylor has written the best life of 
the Apostle with which we are acquainted." 

The Liverpool Daily Post says : — " Dr. Taylor has executed his work 
in a most masterly manner, and ha3 produced a very interesting study of 
one of the most interesting of New Testament worthies." 

Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 

Joseph, the Prime Minister. 

By the Rev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

The Rock says : — " A work which cannot be too highly recommended, 
especially to young men." 

The Christian Leader says : — 14 Dr. Taylor finds a specially congenial 
theme in this story of 4 Joseph,' concerning which he truly remarks that 
it is ' one of the first favourites of our childhood.' " 

The Christian Commonwealth says : — " Dr. Taylor's volume will be 
read with intense interest and profit by everyone; but ib may be especially 
recommended to young men." 

The Methodist Times says : — " Dr. Taylor possesses in a marked degree, 
the delightful secret of making the dry bones of history live. The book 
will be read with interest by people of all ages, but it is specially suitable 
for presentation to young men." 

Crown 8vo, 5s. 

The Scottish Pulpit. 

From the Eeformation to the present day. 
By the Eev. William M. Taylor, D.D. 

The Quiver says: — 44 Dr. Taylor has entered upon his task with 
patriotic zeal, and there is not a single dull page in his most interesting 
work." 

The Leeds Mercury says : — "Dr. Taylor writes with the enthusiasm and 
pride of an exiled Scot. We have never read finer or more able tributes 
than are contained in this gracefully written, scholarly and generous book. 
It is a volume in which preachers, and students in particular, will find 
much that is uplifting." 



( 27) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 

Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. 

Beginning Life : A Book for Young Men. 

By Principal Tulloch. 
M Piincipal Tulloch's excellent book for young men." — Edinburgh Review. 



CONTEXTS. 

RELIGION. 



Importance of Religion. 
Object of Religion. 
The Supernatural. 
Revelation. 

The Christian E\idences. 



What to do. 
How to Read. 
Hew to Ed joy. 



BUSINESS. 

\ 

STUDY. 

I 

RECREATION. 



The Indirect Witness. 
The Direct Witne.- s. 
The Internal Witness. 
What to Be ieve. 
What to Aim at. 



How to do it. 
Books— What to Read. 
What to Enjoy. 



Crown 8vo, cloth, gilt edges. 3s. Gd. 

Her Gentle Deeds. 

By Sarah Tttlee, Author of " Papers for Thoughtful 
Girls." 

' This is work of unusual power, most interesting throughout.'' — 

Methodist Times. 

" A charming book for girls of all ages. The heroine of ' Her Gentle 
Deeds ? is one ^hose acquaintance it is good to to make.'" — Scotsman. 

"The book is excellent. Kirsten Stewart is a noble-minded girl, 
strong and sei sible, after the wholesome fashion of Sarah Tytlei's heroines." 
Literary Churchman. 

"Sarah Tytler's stoiy is just such a look as girls will delight in. 
Kirsten Stewart is a real heroine in her quiet unselfishness, and self re- 
liance." — Academy. 

" A quiet, unsensational and thoroughly artistic stoiy, full of fine 
touches of that imaginative veracity which the accomplished author has 
always at her command." — Manchester Examiner. 

" The story s charmingly freth and original, the high moral tone 
and sense of duty that runs through it are most refreshing."— Lite, ary 
World. 

( 28 ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
London : 9, Buckingham Street, Strand. 



By the 
Eev. J. G. WOOD, M.A 




HONEY BEES AT WORK,. 

This forms one of the " Half- Hour Series." Each volume is illustrated 
with nearly a 100 Woodcuts. {See page 8.) 

29 ) 




CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
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THE REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A, 

Small Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. Beautifully illustrated. 

Field and Forest. 

Chapters in Natural History. By the Eev. J. G. Wood, 
M.A., Author of ;i Homes without Hands." &c. 




LIGHTNESS AND STRENGTH. 

This forms one of the M Half-Hour Series." Each volume is illustrated 
with nearly a 100 Woodcuts. (See page 8.) 

( SO ) 



CHARLES BURNET & CO., PUBLISHERS, 
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EMMA JANE WORBOISE. 

The suitability of Miss Worboise's Stories, for Prizes and 
Gift Books, is abundantly confirmed by their great popularity, 
and the large editions regularly required. 

Crown 8 vo, clotb, 4s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 5s. 

Sir Julian's Wife ; or, Hopes and Misgivings. 

By Emma Jane Worboise. 

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Campion Court : A Tale of the Days of the 

Ejectment Two Hundred Years Ago. By Emma Jane 
Worboise. 

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The Lillingstones of Lillingstone ; or, the 

Secret of Strength. By Emma Jane Worboise. 
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Lottie Lonsdale ; or, the Chain and its Links, 

By Emma Jane Worboise. 

Crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 5s. 

Evelyn's Story ; or, Labour and Wait. 

By Emma Jane Worboise. 

Crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d. ; gilt edges, 5s. 

The Wife's Trials; or, "They were not 

Tears of Sorrow." By Emma Jane Worboise. 
Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt edges, 3s. 6d. 

Life of Dr. Arnold, Head Master of Rugby. 

By Emma Jane Worboise. 



( 31 ) 



BOOKS 

PUBLISHED BY 

CHARLES BURNET & CO. 

9, BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND, 
LONDON. 



